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Accession  No.  H*2 f > 9 8.    Class  No . 


Ji   :    AV.'        *     *%V* 


Historical  Evidences 


OF  THE 


NEW  TESTAMENT. 


OV  TSB 


A  MEXICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY, 

150  NASSAU    STREET,    NEW  YORK. 


35l 


tf 


8 


Contents, 


Historical  Illustrations  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  By 

Rev.  G.  F.  Maclear,  D.  D. page      5 

The  Christ  of  the  Gospels:   A  Religious  Study.   By  Rev.  Henri 

Meyer,  D.  D 69 

Ferdinand  Christian  Baur  and  "his  Theory  of  the  Origin  of 
Christianity  and  of  the  New  Testament  Writings.  By 
Rev.  A.  B.  Bruce,  D.  D 109 

The  Religious  Value  of   the   Doctrines  of  Christianity.     By 

Prof.  C.  M.  Des  Islets,  Ph.  D 171 

Unity  of  Faith' a  Proof  of  the  Divine  Origin  and  Preservation 

of  Christianity.     By  Rev.  John  Stoughton,  D.  D. 217 

The  Evidential  Value  of  the  Observance  of  the  Lord's  Day. 

By  Rev.  G.  F.  Maclear,  D.  D.    —  281 


82698 


historical  Illustrations 

OF  THE 

NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES. 

BY 

REV.  G.  F.  MACLEAR,  D.  D. 

NO.  23. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  TRACT. 


It  is  recorded  of  Lord  Lyndhurst  that  shortly  before 
his  death  he  was  found  by  a  friend  with  a  pile  of  infidel 
books  upon  his  table.  Taking  up  one  of  them,  he  re- 
marked that  it  might  seem  strange  for  him  to  be  so 
occupied,  but  that  his  mind  required  exercise,  and  that 
on  the  main  issue  his  conviction  was  decided.  "  Of 
evidence,  at  least,  he  felt  that  he  was  as  competent  a 
judge  as  most  men;  and  such  evidence  as  might  be 
adduced  for  the  resurrection  had  never  broken  down." 
What  this  consummate  judge  of  the  value  of  evidence 
said  respecting  the  facts  of  our  Lord's  resurrection  is 
extended  in  this  tract  to  the  historical  illustrations  of 
the  narrative  contained  in  the  New  Testament  itself 
which  classical  writers  have  bequeathed  to  us,  and 
which  coins  and  monumental  inscriptions  still  further 
confirm.  The  evidential  value  of  these  illustrations,  it 
is  shown,  cannot  be  broken  down. 


-     '-'*•■ 


HISTORICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES. 


INTRODUCTION. 


So  accustomed  are  we  to  regard  the  New  Tes- 
tament as  one  book,  the  work  of  a  single  writer, 
that  we  are  apt  to  forget  and  overlook  the  variety 
of  its  contents.  It  consists  of  twenty-seven  sep- 
arate and  independent  documents,  composed  by 
eight  or  nine  different  persons  at  very  different 
times  and  under  the  most  varied  circumstances. 
The  works  of  the  writers  of  the  Old  Testament 
fall  under  the  head  of  history  proper.  They  set 
before  us  primarily  and  mainly  the  history  of  a 
nation.  In  the  New  Testament  all  this  is  changed. 
The  authors  of  the  Gospels  are  not  in  any  sense 
historians  of  their  nation.  They  are  biographers 
of  Christ.  Even  the  writer  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  confines  himself  to  the  doings  of  those 
whose  business  it  was  to  spread  abroad  the  doc- 
trines taught  by  Christ  throughout  the  world. 


8  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

The  points,  therefore,  where  the  documents  of 
the  New  Testament  touch  upon  history  proper 
are  not  direct,  but  indirect,  and  the  allusions  are 
and  must  be  incidental.  But  for  this  very  reason 
they  are  extremely  important  as  respects  their 
evidential  value.  Why?  Because,  in  the  first 
place,  to  maintain  accuracy  in  the  wide  field  of 
incidental  allusions  is  a  matter  of  the  utmost  diffi- 
culty, and  no  one  but  an  honest,  truthful  writer 
would  venture  on  such  a  perilous  experiment  at 
all.  Because,  in  the  second  place,  historical  ac- 
curacy in  reference  to  minute  incidental  allusions 
is  utterly  at  variance  with  the  mythical  spirit,  of 
which  the  narrative  contained  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  sometimes  affirmed  to  be  the  product.  If 
the  whole  story  is  a  myth,  fabricated  ab  initio,  its 
composers  w7ould  have  had  no  object  in  maintain- 
ing historical  accuracy  at  all,  or  in  being  careful 
that  their  facts  agreed  with  the  testimony  of  con- 
temporary classical  writers. 

These  incidental  allusions  may  perhaps  be 
most  conveniently  arranged  as  follows: 

(I.)  Those  that  bear  upon  the  political  condi- 
tion of  Palestine  generally; 
(II.)  Those  that  refer  to  the  Roman  authori- 
ties, who  are  represented  as  exercising 
power  over  the  country ; 
(III.)  Those  that  relate  to  its  Jewish  rulers; 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  9 

(IV.)  Those  that  concern  the  condition  of  the 

Jewish  people; 
(V. )  Those  that  touch  on  the  Greek  and  Ro- 
man world. 

I.      THE  POLITICAL  CONDITION  OF  PALESTINE. 

The  political  condition  of  Palestine  at  the 
period  with  which  we  are  dealing  was  singularly 
complicated  and  anomalous,  and  its  complications 
perplexed  even  the  sagacious  Tacitus. 

We  gather  from  Josephus  that  within  a  space 
of  fifty  years  it  passed  through  five  distinct  phases. 
First  it  was  a  single  united  kingdom  under  a  na- 
tive ruler;*  then  it  was  split  up  into  a  set  of  prin- 
cipalities under  native  ethnarchs  and  tetrarchs;f 
then  it  was  partly  amenable  to  such  petty  gover- 
nors and  partly  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a 
Roman  province;!  then  it  was  once  more  a  king- 
dom governed  by  a  native  sovereign;!  and  event- 
ually it  was  reduced  to  a  state  of  complete  subjec- 
tion to  Rome,  though,  according  to  Josephus,  a 
power  seems  to  have  been  intrusted  to  a  surviving 
member  of  the  Herodian  family  of  superintend- 
ing the  temple  at  Jerusalem  and  some  of  the  ec- 
clesiastical arrangements.il 

*  Josephus,  "Antiquities,"  17:8,  1. 

f  Josephus,  "  Bell.  Jud.,"  1:33,  8;  2:6,  3. 

X  "Antiquities,"  18:1,  1.        §  Ibid.,  19:5,  1.        ||  Ibid.,  20:1-3. 


IO  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

It  would  be  impossible  to  point  to  any  similar 
period  of  fifty  years  in  English  history  marked  by 
so  many  changes,  and  it  would  not  have  been  sur- 
prising if,  supposing  them  to  have  been  merely 
ordinary  writers,  those  .who  compiled  the  narra- 
tives contained  in  the  New  Testament  had  evinced 
a  sense  of  difficulty  and  hesitation  in  the  face  of 
political  changes  so  intricate  and  so  anomalous. 

But  is  this  what  we  find  ?  On  the  contrary, 
the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  nowhere  betray 
any  sense  of  perplexity.  They  mark  quite  inci- 
dentally and  without  the  slightest  trace  of  strain 
or  effort  the  various  phases,  extraordinary  as  they 
were,  in  the  civil  government  of  Palestine.  Thus 
at  the  era  of  the  Advent  we  (i)  find  the  country 
subject  to  the  sole  government  of  Herod  the 
Great;*  then  (2;  we  have  his  dominions  parti- 
tioned among  his  sons,  while  one,  Archelaus, 
reigns  over  Judaea  with  the  title  of  king ;t  then 

(3)  we  see  Judaea  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a 
Roman  province,  while  Galilee,  Ituraea,  and  Tra- 
chonitis   continue    under    native    princes  ;J    then 

(4)  in  the  person  of  Herod  Agrippa  I.  we  have 
the  old  kingdom§  of  Palestine  restored;  and  final- 
ly (5)  we  observe  the  whole  country  reduced 
under  Roman  rule,  and  Roman  procurators! |  re- 

•  Matt.  2:1;  Luke  1:5.  f  Matt.  2:22.  %  Luke  3:1. 

§  Acts  12:1.  ||  Felix,  Acts  23:24;  Festus,  Acts  24:27. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  II 

established,  while  a  certain  degree  of  deference  is 
paid  to  Herod  Agrippa  II. ,  to  whom  Festus  refers 
St.  Paul's  case  as  presenting  special  difficulties.* 

Thus  there  is  a  remarkable  general  agreement 
with  the  statements  of  Josephus,  and  no  one  can 
study  the  scenes  which  incidentally  illustrate  this 
agreement  and  say  they  are  forced  or  artificial. 
But  there  is  far  more  than  a  mere  general  agree- 
ment. Palestine  had  not  been  conquered  in  the 
ordinary  way.  It  had  passed  under  the  Roman 
dominion  with  the  consent  and  by  the  assistance 
of  a  large  party  among  the  inhabitants  themselves. 
Hence,  as  has  been  observed,  f  it  presented  not 
only  a  mixture  and  sometimes  an  alternation  of 
Roman  with  native  power,  but  a  peculiar  double 
system,  extending  to  the  administration  of  justice, 
the  levying  of  taxes,  military  commands,  and  the 
coinage  of  the  country. 

Few  would  deny  that  it  would  need  more  than 
ordinary  knowledge  to  describe  with  ease  and 
freedom  such  a  complicated  condition  of  things. 
Accuracy  in  minute  particulars  in  reference  to 
details  so  unique,  arising  sometimes  out  of  a  dual 
and  sometimes  a  triple  form  of  government,  is  a 
striking  testimony  to  the  truthfulness  of  the  wri- 
ters. Do  they  stand  this  test  ?  A  few  instances 
will  suffice  to  prove  this. 

•  Acts  25:15.  |  Rawlinson's  "  Bampton  Lectures,"  p.  240. 


12  HISTORICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

At  the  epoch  of  the  incarnation  the  decree 
goes  forth  from  the  authority  which  alone  could 
order  it  for  the  taxation  of  the  Roman  world.* 
It  is  carried  out  in  Palestine  under  Roman  author- 
ity, but  respect  is  paid  to  the  peculiarly  Jewish 
custom,  which  required  that  each  individual  of 
Palestine  should  be  enrolled  in  his  own  city,  f  Two 
methods  are  employed  for  marking  the  epoch  of 
the  commencement  of  the  preaching  of  the  Bap- 
tist, the  year  of  the  emperor  in  the  capital  of  the 
West  and  the  year  of  the  Jewish  high-priesthood 
in  Palestine.  J  Two  systems  of  "  watches  "  mark 
the  divisions  of  the  hours  of  the  night,  the  proper 
Jewish  reckoning  of  three  and  the  Roman  reckon- 
ing of  four  periods,  §  The  tribute  paid  to  Caesar 
is  called  by  one  name  census ;\\  the  ecclesiastical 
tax  for  the  support  of  the  temple  worship  by  an- 
other, the  didrachm  or  half-shekel.  \  Judas  brings 
a  detachment  of  the  Jewish  L,evitical  guard**  as 
part  of  the  band  to  apprehend  our  Lord  in  the 
Garden  of  Gethsemane,  but  Roman  soldiers  stand 
sentinel  over  His  sepulchre,  ft     The  Jewish  hier- 

•  Luke  2:1.  f  Luke  2:3.  %  Luke  3:1,  2. 

§  Comp.  Lam.  2:19;  Judg.  7:19;  1  Sam.  11: 11  with  Matt.  14:25; 
Mark  13:35. 

||  Matt.  22 :  17 ;  Mark  12:14:  "  Is  it  lawful  to  pay  tribute  to  Caesar 
or  not?" 

f  Matt.  17:24:  "They  that  received  the  half -shekel  came  to 
Peter  and  said,  Doth  not  your  Master  pay  the  half -shekel  ?"   R.  V. 

«•  John  18:3,  12,  R.  V.'  ft  Matt.  27:65. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  1 3 


archy  condemn  Him  to  death  for  blasphemy,* 
but  possessing  no  longer  the  power  of  life  and 
death,  are  obliged  to  urge  a  political  charge 
against  Him  before  the  tribunal  of  Pilate, t  who 
alone  possessed  the  power  of  the  sword.  The 
Jewish  mode  of  capital  punishment  is  by  stoning ;$ 
the  Roman  method,  except  in  the  case  of  Roman 
citizens, §  is  by  scourging  and  crucifixion.  || 

In  carrying  out  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord  we 
notice  that  while  Roman  customs  are  strictly 
maintained  they  are  softened  by  the  more  merci- 
ful provisions  of  the  Jewish  law.  The  Sufferer  is 
condemned  to  bear  his  cross;  a  title  or  superscrip- 
tion is  affixed  to  it;T  he  is  fastened  to  it  with 
nails;**  soldiers  are  stationed  below  it  under  the 
command  of  a  centurion  to  see  that  the  sentence 
is  duly  executed,  and  the  garments  of  the  cruci- 
fied are  distributed  among  them.  But  Jewish 
mercy  softens  some  of  the  details.  The  potion  is 
offered  the  divine  Sufferer  for  the  purpose  of  dead- 
ening the  painjft  the  fracture  of  the  legs,  techni- 
cally called  crucifraghiniy  is  adopted  to  mitigate 
the  punishment  and  hasten  death  ;|J  the  bodies  of 

*  Matt.  26:65,  66.  f  Matt.  27:2;  Luke  23:2. 

%  John  10:31;  Acts  7:58;  14:19;  comp.  Lev.  24:16. 
I  Joseph.,  "Bell.  Jud.,"  2:14,  9;  Livy,  33:56.     ||  Acts  22:24,  25. 
f  Sueton.,  "  Calig.,"  32,  "  Titulus,  qui  causam  pcenae  indicaret." 
*•  This  was  the  common  practice  in  Palestine,  as  we  are  ex- 
pressly informed  by  Josephus,  "  Bell.  Jud.,'.'  2:14,  9. 

ft  Matt.  27:33,  34.    See  Lightfoot,  "  Hor.  Heb."   %%  John  19:31. 


14  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS   OK 

the  crucified  are  not  allowed  to  moulder  on  the 
cross  under  the  action  of  sun  and  rain,  or  to  be 
devoured  by  birds  or  wild  beasts* — they  must  be 
removed  before  the  evening,  f 

And  as  it  is  with  peculiarities  of  custom,  so  it 
is  with  peculiarities  of  language.  We  find  Latin- 
isms  and  Hebraisms  occurring,  with  the  utmost 
naturalness,  side  by  side  in  the  same  writings. 
We  have  Latin  military  terms,  like  ''centurion, "J 
' '  legion, "  §  u  praetorium, "  1 1  a  palace ;  ' '  custodia, ' '  Tf 
a  guard;  "speculator,"**  a  soldier  of  the  guard; 
ucolonia,"tt  a  colony;  Latin  coins,  like  "quad- 
rans,"tJ  a  farthing;  " denarius, "§§  a  penny;  "as- 
sarion,"||||  a  farthing;  Latin  terms  connected  with 
the  revenue,  as ( *  census, ' '  If f  tribute ;  with  military 
punishment,  as  "flagellare,"***  to  scourge;  He- 
braisms, like  "Corban,"  u  Rabbi,"  "Rabboni," 
"Raca,"  "Gehenna,"  "Mammon,"  "Boaner- 
ges," "Talitha  cumi,"  "Ephphatha,"  "  Hosan- 
na,"  "Cephas,"  "Bar-jona." 

Words,"  as  Archbishop  Trench  has  remind- 


i i 


•  Hor.,  "Epist.,"  1:16,  48;  Juv.,  "Sat.,"  14:77. 
f  Deut.  21:22,  23.    This  is  especially  witnessed  to  by  Josephus, 
"Bell.  Jud.,"  4:5,  2. 

X  Mark  15:39.  44-  §  Matt.  26:53;  Mark  5:9. 

||  Matt.  27:27;  John  18:28,  33;  Phil.  1:13,  R.  V. 

f  Matt.  27:65,  R.  V.  •*  Mark  6:27,  R.  V. 

ft  Acts  16:12.  XX  Matt.  5:26;  Mark  12:42. 

$$  Matt.  18:28.         .  HI  Matt.  10:29;  Luke  12:6. 

*f^[  Matt.  17:25.  •*•  Matt.  27:26;  Luke  15:15. 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  15 

ed  us,  "are  fossil  history;  they  are  the  marks  and 
vestiges  of  great  revolutions, "  and  "  any  one  with 
skill  to  analyze  the  language  might  recreate  for 
himself  the  history  of  the  people  speaking  that 
language."*  '  This  is  true  also  of  the  language  of 
the  New  Testament.  It  is  fossil  history.  These 
Latin  and  Hebrew  words  existing  side  by  side  are 
not  artificially  but  naturally  introduced,  and  illus- 
trate the  semi-Jewish  and  semi-Roman  condition 
of  the  Holy  Land  and  the  co-existence  at  this  par- 
ticular juncture  of  semi-Jewish  and  semi-Roman 
ideas.  Remarkable  as  this  is,  it  becomes  more 
remarkable  when  we  reflect  that  only  just  at  this 
period  of  the  New  Testament  could  this  co-exist- 
ence have  been  so  strikingly  marked,  for  u  it  came 
to  an  end  within  forty  years  after  our  Lord's  cru- 
cifixion, "f 

II.    Roman  Emperors  and  Administrators. 

The  Roman  emperors  mentioned  by  name  in 
the  New  Testament  are  Augustus,  Tiberius,  and 
Claudius.  The  Roman  governors  are  Cyrenius  or 
Quirinius,  Pontius  Pilate,  Felix,  Festus,  Sergius 
Paulus,  and  Gallio. 

Classical  history  attests  that  these  persons  ex- 
isted at  the  time  specified,  that  they  bore  the  offi- 

*  Trench's  "  Study  of  Words,"  p.  96. 

f  Rawlinson's  "  Bampton  Lectures,"  p.  241. 


1 6  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

ces  here  assigned  to  them,  and  that  the  actions 
ascribed  to  them  are  either  exactly  such  as  they 
performed,  or  at  least  are  in  perfect  keeping  with 
their  known  characters. 

Respecting  the  emperors  we  notice  that  their 
names  occur  in  the  right  order,  nor  is  there  any 
trace  of  error  respecting  their  chronology.  From 
classical  authors  we  gather  that  the  first  emperor 
acceded  to  the  throne  forty-four  years  before  Ti- 
berius, and  that  the  reign  of  Claudius  extended 
from  A.  D.  41  to  A.  D.  54.  When,  therefore,  St. 
Luke  places  the  birth  of  our  Lord  in  the  reign  of 
Augustus,*  and  the  commencement  of  his  minis- 
try in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Tiberius,  f  and  when 
he  represents  Claudius!  as  having  acceded  to  the 
throne  before  the  second  journey  of  St.  Paul,  he 
states  facts  which  are  in  perfect  harmony  with 
legitimate  inferences  from  the  entirely  independ- 
ent statements  of  Tacitus§  and  Suetonius.  || 

The  carrying  out  of  a  census  in  the  reign  of 
Augustus  is  illustrated  in  a  very  striking  manner 
by  the  statements  of  Suetonius,  who  records  three 
instances!!  of  a  census  having  been  held  in  his 
reign.  He  also  mentions  the  fact  that  the  emper- 
or kept  a  "statistical  table"  or  "inventory"**  of 


•  Luke  2:1.                   f  Luke  3:1. 

t  Acts  i 

11:28. 

2  Tac,  "Ann.,"  1:3;  Suet,  "  Tib.,' 

"  21.     I  Suet., 

"Claud.,"  25. 

f  Suet.,  "Oct.,"  27. 

**  Suet., 

"  Oct.,"  28. 

THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  17 

the  whole  empire,  which  on  his  death  was  pro- 
duced and  read  in  the  senate  as  a  sort  of  Roman 
doomsday  book. 

That  the  census  took  place  when  Quirinius 
was  governor  of  Syria  has  often  been  regarded  as 
an  error,  and  whole  volumes  have  been  written 
on  the  subject.  But  whatever  may  be  the  precise 
meaning  of  the  verse  in  St.  L,uke,*  whether  we 
render  the  words  npCmi  kyhero,  "took  place  before 
Quirinius  was  governor,"  or  throw  the  empha- 
sis on  kyevero,  " first  took  effect,"  there  has  been 
no  serious  refutation  of  the  view  first  developed 
by  Zumpt  that  Quirinius  was  twice  governor 
of  Syria,  once  in  B.  C.  4,  when  he  began  the 
census,  and  once  in  A.  D.  6,  when  he  carried  it 
to  completion.  His  prominence  on  this  occasion 
accords  with  the  statements  of  Tacitusf  and  Sue- 
tonius that,  though  he  was  of  obscure  and  pro- 
vincial origin,  yet  he  was  a  loyal  soldier  and  won 
his  consulship  by  activity  and  military  skill,  earn- 
ing a  triumph  for  his  successes  in  Cilicia. 

Of  the  reign  of  Claudius  we  have  two  notices 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  The  first  relates  to 
the  famine  predicted  by  AgabusJ  as  destined  to 
affect  the  whole  Roman  world,  and  states  that 
the  predicted  famine  actually  came  to  pass  in  the 
reign  of  this  emperor.      Standing  alone  this  re- 

•  Luke  2:2.        f  Tac,  "Ann.,"  2:30;  3:22,48.        %  Acts  11:28. 
2 


1 8  HISTORICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

mark  does  not  suggest  much,  but  it  receives  a 
signal  confirmation  from  the  fact  that  the  first, 
second,  fourth,  ninth,  and  eleventh  years  of  the 
reign  of  Claudius  were  remarkable  for  famines  in 
some  district  or  other.  The  famine  in  the  elev- 
enth year  was  of  such  terrible  severity  that  "at 
Rome  there  were  provisions  for  no  more  than  fif- 
teen days,"  and  a  clamorous  throng  crowded 
round  Claudius  "and  drove  him  to  a  corner  of 
the  forum,  where  they  violently  pressed  upon 
him,  till  he  broke  through  the  furious  mob  with 
a  body  of  soldiers."  Such  is  the  statement  of 
Tacitus,*  and  it  is  confirmed  by  Suetoniusf  and 
Joseph  us.  % 

The  other  incident  relates  to  the  discovery  by 
St.  Paul  at  Corinth§  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  na- 
tives of  Pontus.  From  Pontus  they  had  migrated 
to  Rome,  but  had  been  driven  thence  by  an  edict 
of  Claudius  commanding  all  Jews  to  depart  from 
the  capital.  What  do  Roman  writers  say  on  the 
subject?  Suetonius  tells  us  that,  "owing  to  the 
tumults  which  the  Jews  stirred  up  at  Rome  at  the 
instigation  of  one  Chrestus,  Claudius  decreed  their 
expulsion  from  the  city." || 

What  does  Tacitus  record?     He  informs  us! 

»  "  Ann.,"  12:43.    f  Suet, "  Claud.,"  18.    J  Jos.,  '■'  Ant.,"  20:5,  2. 

g  Acts  18:2.      ||  Suet.,  "Claud.,"  18. 

f  Tac,  "Ann.,"  12:52;  see  Lewin,  "Fasti  Sacri,"  p.  295. 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  19 

that  in  the  year  A.  D.  52  "a  decree  of  the  senate 
was  passed  for  the  expulsion  of  the  astrologers 
from  Italy."  That  by  the  word  "astrologers" 
the  historian  meant  to  indicate  the  Jews  with 
others  is  extremely  probable.  For  that  the  edict 
was  subsequently  dropped  appears  from  the  fact 
that  we  find  Aquila  and  his  wife  again  in  Rome.  * 
This  curiously  agrees  with  the  words  of  Tacitus 
respecting  the  edict,  for  while  he  describes  it 
as  ' '  stringent, ' '  he  also  says  it  ' '  was  ineffectual. ' ' 

So  much  for  the  emperors.  When  we  pass 
from  them  to  the  Roman  governors  we  find  not 
only  that  they  too  occupy  their  proper  chronologi- 
cal position,  but  that  their  characters,  as  repre- 
sented in  the  New  Testament,  agree  with  classi- 
cal authors. 

Of  Quirinius  we  have  already  spoken.  Pon- 
tius Pilate  as  an  historical  persom.ge  stands  out 
clearly  in  the  pages  of  Tacitus.  The  successor  of 
Valerius  Gratus,f  he  occupied  the  position  of  pro- 
curator under  the  propraetor  of  Syria  for  ten 
eventful  years,  from  A.  D.  26  to  A.  D.  36.  His 
headquarters  were  at  Caesarea,J  and  thence  he 
came  up  with  his  troops  to  keep  order  during  the 
greater  festivals.  Between  his  legionaries  and 
the  Jewish  people  there  was  no  love  lost.  His  at- 
tempts to  use  "the  Corban,"  or  sacred  fund,  for 

*  Rom.  16:3.     f  Jos.,  "Ant.,"  18:2,  2.     $  Jos.,  "  Bell.  Jud.,"  2:9,  2. 


20  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS  CF 

the  erection  of  public  tanks  for  the  comfort  of 
rich  and  poor,*  and  to  crush  in  blood  the  insur- 
rection which  this  caused,  must  have  increased 
the  general  ill-will.  Still,  with  all  his  shortcom- 
ings, the  evangelists,  consistently  with  historic 
truth,  portray  him  as  "the  Roman  magistrate" 
anxious  to  carry  out  all  the  regulations  prescribed 
by  Roman  law.  This  comes  out  at  every  turn 
when  our  L,ord  is  brought  before  his  tribunal. 
Possessing  only  the  power  of  a  legatus  in  his  own 
province,  he  has  no  qiiastor  to  conduct  the  exami- 
nation for  him  of  the  Great  Accused.  He  is 
obliged  to  hear  the  charge  in  person.  With  his 
Roman  sense  of  justice  he  will  not  consent,  as  the 
Jews  desired  of  him,f  to  be  the  executioner  before 
the  judge.  He  summons  our  Lord  within  his 
prcBtorium.  He  examines  him  himself  on  the 
triple  political  charge  of  religious  .agitation,  of 
forbidding  tribute,  of  assuming  the  title  of 
x '  King. ' '  The  Jews  bring  forward  neither  proofs 
nor  witnesses.  He  tries  to  discover  whether  the 
confession  of  the  prisoner,  always  held  desirable 
by  Roman  institutions,  will  enable  him  to  take 
cognizance  of  the  accusation.  During  the  trial  a 
message  from  his  wife,t  whom  a  relaxation  of 
the  law  attested  by  Tacitus§  had  allowed  him  to 

*  "Ant.,"  18:3,  2.  f  John  18:30.  \  Matt.  27:19. 

#  In  early  times  the  Roman  magistrates  had  not  been  allowed 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  21 

bring  with  him  from  home,  warns  him  not  to  as- 
sist in  shedding  the  blood  of  "that  righteous 
man."  At  one  point,  anxious  to  roll  off  the  bur- 
den of  a  terrible  responsibility,  he  refers  the  case 
to  the  tribunal  of  Herod  Antipas,*  just  as  Vespa- 
sian did  afterwards  in  another  case  out  of  compli- 
ment to  Agrippa.  f  At  another,  he  offers  the  peo- 
ple their  choice  between  our  Lord  and  Barabbas.  J 
Then  thinking  that  a  punishment  only  less  terri- 
ble than  the  cross,  that  of  the  Roman  scourge,  will 
satisfy  the  tossing,  clamorous  throng,  he  gives  or- 
ders that  it  shall  be  carried  out,  and  in  his  posi- 
tion of  sub-governor,  having  no  lictors  at  his  dis- 
posal, he  is  fain  to  inflict  it  by  the  hands  of  sol- 
diers. §  Finally,  seated  on  the  Bema,  or  judgment 
seat,  surmounting  the  tessellated  pavement,  ||  to 
which  Roman  custom  attached  a  special  impor- 
tance,^ he  pronounces,  as  being  invested  with  the 
jus  gladii,  the  irrevocable  word,  ' '  Let  him  be  cru- 
cified." 

At  every  turn  quotations  from  classical  authors 

to  take  their  wives  with  them  into  the  provinces.  But  this  rule 
had  gradually  been  relaxed,  and  lately  a  proposition  of  Caecina  to 
enforce  it  had  been  rejected.    Tac,  "  Ann.,"  3:33,  34. 

•  Luke  23  : 7.  f  Jos.,  "  Bell.  Jud.,"  3  -.9,  7,  8.  t  Matt. 

27:17;  Mark  15:9.  \  See  Livy,  33-36;  Jos.,  "  Bell.  Jud.," 

2:14,9.  ||  John  19:13,  16. 

f  So  necessary  were  the  tessellated  pavement  and  the  tribu- 
nal deemed  to  the  forms  of  justice  that  Caesar  carried  about  with 
him  on  his  expeditions  pieces  of  marble  neatly  fitted  and  a  tribu- 
nal.   Suet.,  "Jul.,"  c.  46. 


22  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

attest  the  accuracy  in  the  details  of  this  Roman 
trial.  Is  it  less  discernible  in  the  portraiture  of 
Pilate  himself?  Does  he  manifest  a  contemptu- 
ous disregard  for  the  religious  susceptibilities  of 
the  Jews?  Has  he  not  given  many  proofs  of  it 
before  ?  has  he  not  again  and  again  evinced  that 
contempt  for  the  nation  so  strongly  entertained  by 
his  patron  Sejanus?  has  he  not  slain  many  thou- 
sands of  the  Jews*  and  "mingled  the  blood  of 
certain  Galileans  with  their  sacrifices  "?f  Does 
he  show  vacillation  and  irresolution?  What  else 
did  he  display  when  he  withdrew  the  silver  eagles 
he  had  set  up  at  Jerusalem  ?  Is  he  terrified  when 
he  hears  the  crafty,  well-chosen  cry,  "  If  thou  let 
this  man  go  thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend "?J  is  he 
resolved  at  all  risks  to  save  himself  from  the  wrath 
of  the  gloomy,  suspicious  Tiberius?  Does  not 
history  supply  the  key  to  his  selfish  terror? 
were  not  his  own  hands  stained  with  blood? 
was  it  not  the  leges  majestatis,  the  law  of  treason, 
which  the  emperor  exacted  with  the  most  re- 
morseless severity?  The  historians  Tacitus  and 
Suetonius§  supply  the  answer. 

Take  next  the  character  of  Felix.     The  sacred 
writer  treads  as  firmly  and  unhesitatingly  in  his 

•  "Antiquities,"  18:3,  2;  "  Bell.  Jud.,"  2:9,  4. 

f  Luke  13:1.  %  John  19:12. 

g  Tacitus,  '•  Annals,"  3:38]  Suetonius,  "  Tiberius,"  c.  58, 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT   SCRIPTURES.  2$ 

description  of  the  brother  of  Pallas,  the  favorite 
freedman  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  as  in  that  of 
Pilate.  And  his  statements  are  confirmed  by 
classical  writers.  St.  Paul  is  committed  to  his 
charge  by  Lysias,  the  military  officer  at  Jerusa- 
lem, who  in  a  letter  explains  the  case.  The  apos- 
tle is  put  on  his  trial,  and  Tertullus  the  advocate 
urges  the  charge  against  him.  In  the  course  of 
his  speech  he  seizes  on  such  points  in  tlie;  govern- 
ment of  Felix  as  could  meet  any  praise.  Jose- 
phus*  helps  us  to  understand  what  these  were. 
The  advocate  cleverly  dwells  on  the  abuses  and 
disorders  the  procurator  had  put  down.  He  keeps 
out  of  sight  the  severity  with  which  this  had  been 
done.  Felix  remands  the  apostle  to  prison,  and 
keeps  him  there  upwards  of  two  years  in  the  hope 
of  extorting  money  from  him.  Is  not  this  quite 
in  keeping  with  the  character  of  one  of  whom 
Tacitus  says  "that  he  indulged  in  every  kind  of 
barbarity  and  lust,  and  exercised  the  power  of  a 
king  in  the  spirit  of  a  slave"  ff  Is  it  surprising 
that  with  the  sensual  Drusilla  by  his  side  he 
' '  trembled  ' '  when  the  apostle  l '  reasoned  of 
righteousness  and  temperance  and  judgment  to 

*  Felix  during  his  period  of  office  put  down  false  Messiahs 
(Josephus,  "Antiquities,''  20:8,  6;  "Bell.  Jud.,"  2:13,  4),  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  Egyptian  pretender  (Acts  21:38),  riots  between  the 
Jews  and  Syrians  in  Ca^sarea. 

|  Tacitus,   "  History,"  5  :  9.     Comp.  Tacitus,  "  Annals,"  12  :  54. 


24  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

come"?*  Did  not  tales  of  his  barbarity  and 
cruelty  reach  the  ear  of  the  emperor,  and  did  he 
not  escape  a  severe  sentence  only  through  the 
influence  which  his  brother  Pallas  exerted  over 
Nero?f 

The  arrival  of  Porcius  Festus  in  A.  D.  60  as 
successor  to  Felix  marks  one  of  the  most  certain 
dates  in  the  chronology  of  the  Acts.  His  com- 
paratively equitable  and  mild  character,  as  it 
comes  out  in  the  sacred  narrative,  is  attested  also 
by  Josephus,  who  bears  witness  that  he  tried  to 
administer  real  justice  and  did  not  stain  his  hands 
with  bribes.  Justice  and  impartiality  mark  his 
dealings  with  St.  Paul.  Three  days  after  his 
arrival  in  Syria  he  goes  up  to  Jerusalem.  He  has 
already  at  CaesareaJ  heard  serious  complaints 
against  the  apostle,  and  on  reaching  the  capital 
he  is  importuned  by  the  chief  priests  and  elders 
to  allow  the  hated  prisoner  to  be  tried  at  Jerusa- 
lem^ But  Festus  is  well  aware  that  as  a  Roman 
citizen  the  apostle  cannot  be  brought  before  the 
Sanhedrin  without  his  own  consent,  and  promises 
to  give  a  full  and  fair  audience  to  their  complaints 
at  Caesarea.  Eight  or  ten  days  afterwards  he  re- 
turns to  the  palace,  and  the  very  next  day  takes 
his  seat  on  the  tribunal  to  hear  the  case.      His 

•  Acts  24:25.  f  Josephus,  "Antiquities,"  20:8,  9. 

t  Acts  25:24.  I  Acts  24:5. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  2$ 

accusers  reiterate  their  charges  against  the  apostle, 
but  have  no  witnesses  to  bring  forward.  Festus, 
perceiving  the  weakness  of  their  case,  proposes 
that  the  offences  against  the  law  and  the  temple 
shall  be  heard  before  the  Sanhedrin,  but  with 
characteristic  fairness  expressly  stipulates  that 
this  shall  be  done  in  his  own  prese?ice.  Then  the 
apostle,  certain  that  the  Jews  will  never  let  him 
depart  alive  from  Jerusalem,  falls  back  on  his 
own  special  privilege  as  a  Roman  citizen.  He 
pronounces  the  memorable  words,  "I  appeal  unto 
Caesar,"  and  Festus  loses  all  power  over  him. 

The  Roman  law  of  appeal  would  be  utterly 
out  of  place  in  a  mythical  narrative.  No  one  but 
a  recorder  of  literal  facts  would  ever  have  ventured 
even  to  allude  to  it.  Under  the  Commonwealth 
Roman  law  had  allowed  every  citizen,  except  in 
certain  specified  cases,  to  appeal  to  the  people 
from  the  sentence  of  a  magistrate  condemning 
him  to  be  scourged  or  put  to  death.  Under  the 
Empire  the  appeal  was  transferred  from  the  peo- 
ple to  the  Caesar,  and  in  the  reign  of  Trajan  we 
find  Pliny,  the  proconsul  of  Bithynia,  sending 
even  those  Christians  who  were  Roman  citizens 
to  the  imperial  tribunal.  *  St.  Paul,  therefore,  is 
strictly  within  his  right,  and  the  spirit  of  the  Ro- 
man law  fully  justifies  the  course  he  now  takes. 

*  Pliny's  "Letters,"  10:97. 


26  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

The  sacred  historian  does  not  mention  any  written 
appeal  being  handed  into  the  court.  An  ordinary 
uninformed  person  might  well  have  supposed  it 
was  necessary.  But  it  was  not  so.  The  mere 
utterance  of  the  single  word  "  Appello  "*  removes 
the  apostle's  cause  from  the  local  to  the  imperial 
tribunal.  Festus  consults  for  a  moment  with  his 
consiliarii,  or  council  of  assessors,  f  whether  the 
appeal  is  legally  admissible  or  not,  J  and  the  case 
is  at  an  end.  We  notice  the  same  spirit  of  fairness 
in  the  report  he  makes  of  his  prisoner's  case  be- 
fore the  vassal-king  Agrippa  II. ,  and  he  allows  the 
apostle  a  patient  hearing  before  his  guest,  hoping 
thus  to  ascertain  more  certain  details  to  lay  before 
"his  lord"  at  Rome.  The  very  occurrence  of 
this  expression  ulord"  here  is  a  "water  mark" 
of  truth  in  the  narrative.  Augustus  and  Tiberius 
had  alike  refused  this  title  of  despotic  power,  such 
as  a  master  had  over  a  slave.  But  Caligula  was 
greedy  of  this  title  of  absolutism;  and  after  him  it 
was  assumed  by  his  successors,  till  in  the  reign  of 
Domitian§  it  was  assigned  to  the  emperors  by  law. 
Every  detail  of  the  narrative  bespeaks  a  charac- 
teristic fairness  on  the  part  of  Festus,  and  is  illus- 

*  Ulpian,  "  Digest,"  44: 1,  2. 

f  For  in  a  few  cases  the  right  of  appeal  was  disallowed.  Ul- 
pian, "  Digest,"  49  : 1,  16. 

%  Suetonius,  "  Tiberius,"  33;  "Galb.,"  14;  Cicero,  "in  Verr.," 
2:2,  32.  g  Seutonius,  "  Domit.,"  13. 


THE    NEW  TESTAMENT   SCRIPTURES.  V 

trated  by  the  testimony  of  Josephus,  that  he  was 
a  just  as  well  as  an  active  magistrate. 

Equally  truthful  and  consistent  in  the  classic 
history  is  St.  Iyiike's  portraiture  of  Gallio,  the  pro- 
consul of  Achaia,  during  St.  Paul's  stay  at  Corinth 
in  A.  D.  53.*  And,  first,  why  does  the  sacred 
historian  call  him  a  "proconsul"?  Why  not 
"propraetor"?  In  a  mythical  narrative  either 
title  would  have  been  equally  appropriate.  But 
what  does  Strabo  tell  us  ?f  Achaia,  we  learn, 
had  been  a  senatorial  province  under  Augustus, 
and  therefore  its  governor  was  a  proconsul.  But 
what  does  Tacitus  record?  According  to  him 
Achaia  had  been  placed  on  the  list  of  imperial 
provinces,  {  and  therefore  its  supreme  magistrate 
was  a  proprcetor.  Is  there  not  some  mistake? 
Suetonius  shall  solve  the  doubt.  Claudius,  he 
tells  us,  the  successor  of  Tiberius,  had  not  been 
four  years  in  power  before  he  restored  Achaia  to 
the  Senate,  §  and  so  gave  it  once  more  &  proconsul 
for  its  governor.  And  then  as  regards  Gallio  him- 
self, an  ordinary  writer,  describing  an  imaginary 
character,  might  have  been  pardoned  had  he  por- 
trayed him  as  a  stern  and  imperious  governor 
vindicating  with  rigor  the  majesty  of  Roman  law. 

•  Acts  18:12-17.     "When  Gallio  was  proconsul  of  Achaia." 
Revised  Version. 

f  Strabo,  17,  p.  840;  Dio  Cass.,  53  :  12. 

%  Tacitus,  "  Annals,"  1:76.  g  Suetonius,  "  Claud.,"  25. 


28  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

But  is  this  how  he  is  described  in  the  Acts  ?  On 
the  contrary,  we  find  him  with  easy  indifference 
refusing  to  settle  a  quarrel  between  the  members 
of  a  merely  "tolerated  religion."  He  declines 
to  intervene  in  questions  lying  beyond  his  juris- 
diction. He  regards  with  calmness  an  outbreak 
of  violence  before  his  own  tribunal.  He  dismisses 
the  whole  case  with  easy  indifference.  A  startling 
portrait,  if  it  were  7iot  true,  of  a  Roman  governor ! 
But  how  else  should  we  have  expected  the  brother 
of  Seneca  to  behave,  whom  his  contemporaries* 
describe  as  popular  with  all  men — a  bright,  light- 
hearted,  charming  companion,  and  such  a  friend 
14  that  those  who  loved  him  to  the  utmost  did  not 
love  him  enough"?  Would  a  stern,  imperious 
demeanor  have  been  consistent  with  such  a  char- 
acter? 

III.    Jewish  Kings  and  Princes. 

The  Jewish  kings  and  princes  mentioned  in 
the  New  Testament  are  Herod  the  Great,  Arche- 
laus,  Herod  Antipas,  Herod  Philip  II.,  Herod 
Agrippa  I.,  and  Herod  Agrippa  II. 

St.  Matthew  commences  his  narrative  by  tell- 
ing us  that  "Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem  of  Ju- 
daea in  the  days  of  Herod  the  king,"f  or,  as  St. 

*  Statius  refers  to  him  as  "  the  sweet  Gallic"     Stat.,  "  Sylv.," 
2:7,  31;  comp.  Pliny,  "  N.  Q\,"  4  Praef.  f  Matt.  2:1. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  2g 

Luke  expressly  styles  him,  "the  king  of  Judaea."* 
The  title  here  given  is  amply  attested  by  the  Jew- 
ish historian.  Herod  the  Great,  the  second  son  of 
Antipater,  who  was  appointed  procurator  of  Ju- 
daea by  Julius  Caesar  in  B.  C.  47,  was  elected  by 
the  Romans  to  the  governorship  of  Galilee,  though 
only,  according  to  Josephus,  in  his  fifteenth  year.f 
In  B.  C.  41  he  was  appointed  ' '  tetrarch ' '  of  Ju- 
daea, a  title  which  he  exchanged  in  the  following 
year  for  that  of  "king, "J  in  accordance  with  a  de- 
cree of  the  senate,  through  the  influence  of  An- 
tony. Having  captured  Jerusalem,  B.  C.  2>7i  and 
established  his  authority,  he  won  the  favor  of  Oc- 
tavius,§  the  conqueror  at  Actium  in  B.  C.  31, 
and  received  from  him,  besides  several  important 
cities,  the  province  of  Trachonitis  and  the  district 
of  Paneas.  These  facts  are  attested  not  only  by 
Josephus,  who  tells  us  that  "from  the  time  he 
was  declared  king  by  the  Romans  Herod  reigned 
thirty-seven  years,  "||  but  by  Tacitus  also,  who 
expressly  mentions  "Antony  as  giving  and  Au- 
gustus as  confirming  him  in  the  regal  title. MT 
The  reign,  after  the  acknowledgment  of  his 
claims  by  Augustus,  was  free  from  external  trou- 


*  Luke  1:5.  f  More  probably  his  25th.  See  Merivale's  "  Ro- 
mans Under  the  Empire,"  3:377.  %  Jos.  "Ant.,"  14:14,  etc.;  "Bell. 
Jud.,"  1:14,  4.     §  "Ant.,"  15:6,  6;  "  Bell.  Jud.,"  1:20,  1. 

||  "Ant.,"  17:8,  1.  If  Tac.,  "  History,"  5:9. 


3°  HISTORICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

bles,  but  was  stained  by  an  almost  uninterrupted 
series  of  acts  of  bloodshed  perpetrated  in  his  own 
family  and  among  his  subjects.  The  cunning  he 
displayed  towards  the  Magi*  is  illustrated  by  nu- 
merous other  instances  of  cruelties,  deceptions, 
and  suspicions,  which  fill  many  chapters  in  Jo- 
sephus.f  His  arrest  of  the  chief  men  throughout 
his  dominion  just  before  his  death,  and  his  in- 
structions to  Salome  that  they  should  be  butch- 
ered immediately  upon  his  decease,  J  that  thus  his 
funeral  might  at  least  be  signalized  by  a  real 
mourning,  reveals  a  bloodier  temper  than  even 
the  massacre  of  the  innocents  at  Bethlehem, 
which  Josephus  passes  over  as  positively  insignifi- 
cant when  compared  with  other  atrocities  of  the 
monarch.  §  Having  rebuilt  Zion,  as  Nero  rebuilt 
Rome,  leaving  a  city  of  marble  where  he  had 
found  it  of  mud  and  lime,  Herod  had  commenced 
in  B.  C.  18  a  new  and  more  costly  temple  than 
had  ever  yet  been  raised  in  honor  of  God  in  Pal- 
estine. ' '  Forty  and  six  years  is  it, ' '  said  the 
Jews  afterwards  to  our  Lord,||  "  since  the  build- 
ing of  this  temple  began."  The  words  imply 
that  it  was  not  yet  finished.  And  this  is  strictly 
true.     The  temple  itself  was  built  in  a  year  and  a 

*  Matt.  2:7,  8.       f  aAnt.,"  15:1,  3,  6,  7;  16:4,  8,  10;  17:3,  6,  7. 
X  "  Bell.  Jud.,"  1:33,6.  #  Macrob.,  "Saturnal,"  2:4. 

||  John  2:20.     See  Sanday's  "  Fourth  Gospel,"  p.  67. 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  3 1 

half.  But  constant  additions  were  made,  and, 
though  the  courts  and  cloisters  were  finished  in 
eight  years  more  so  as  to  be  fit  for  the  actual  ser- 
vices of  religion,  we  have  positive  evidence*  that 
the  whole  structure  was  not  finally  complete  till 
A.  D.64,  or  six  years  before  its  destruction  by  Ti- 
tus. 

After  the  death  of  Herod,  St.  Matthew  informs 
us  that  Joseph,  having  been  some  time  in  Egypt, 
"  arose  and  took  the  young  child  and  his  mother 
and  came  into  the  land  of  Israel.  But  when  he 
heard  that  Archelaus  was  reigning  over  Judaea  in 
the  room  of  his  father  Herod  he  was  afraid  to  go 
thither;  and  being  warned  of  God  in  a  dream,  he 
withdrew  into  the  parts  of  Galilee."!  From  this 
we  infer  (1)  that  Archelaus  succeeded  Herod  in 
the  government  of  Judaea,  properly  so  called,  but 
(2)  that  his  power  did  not  extend  to  Galilee.  Do 
these  facts,  thrown  in  so  incidentally,  agree  or  not 
agree  with  what  Tacitus  and  Josephus  tell  us  as 
regards  the  territorial  arrangements  made  on  the 
death  of  Herod  ? 

What  does  Tacitus  say?  He  tells  usj  that 
Herod's  sous  ruled  over  his  realm  under  a  three- 
fold division.  What  does  Josephus  tell  us?  That 
his  kingdom  was  divided  among  three  of  his  sons, 
Archelaus   receiving  Judaea,   Samaria,   and   Idu- 

•  Sanday,  p.  66.        f  Matt.  2:21,  22.        X  "  History,"  5:9. 


32  HISTORICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

maea;  Antipas  the  tetrarchy  of  of  Galilee  and  Pe- 
rsea;  and  Philip  that  of  Batanaea,  Trachonitis,  and 
Auranitis;  while  Salome,  sister  of  the  great  king, 
obtained  Jamnia  and  Ashdod.  *  The  rumor  which 
is  said  by  the  evangelist  to  have  reached  the  ears 
of  Josephf  is  very  significant  in  the  light  of  what 
Joseph  us  tells  us.  From  him  we  learn  that  till  a 
few  days  before  his  death  Herod  had  nominated 
AntipasJ  as  his  successor,  and  only  in  his  last  mo- 
ments had  he  altered  his  will  and  mentioned 
Archelaus  for  the  post.§  Moreover,  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  Augustus,  after  hearing  the  claim- 
ants for  the  government  of  Judaea,  Archelaus  was 
declared  ethnarch||  of  Judaea.  But  in  the  interval 
between  the  death  of  Herod  and  his  departure  for 
Rome  he  had  been  saluted  as  king  by  the  army,T 
a  title  which  Augustus  assured  him  should  be  his 
if  he  ruled  successfully. 

Once  more  St.  Matthew  adds  that  "  when  Jo- 
seph had  heard  that  Archelaus  was  reigning  over 
Judaea  in  the  room  of  his  father  Herod  he  was 
afraid  to  go  thither."**  Had  he  any  ground  for 
this  fear?  Josephus  supplies  a  ready  answer.  He 
tells  us  that  only  a  few  days  after  the  death  of 
Herod,  on  the  occasion  of  a  tumult,  Archelaus  let 

•  Josephus,  "Ant.,"  17:11,  4.     f  Matt.  2:22.     X  "Ant.,"  17:6,  1. 

#  "Ant.,"  17:8,  1 ;  "Bell.  Jud.,"  1:33,  7.         ||  "  Ant.,"  17:11,  4. 
i  "  Ant.,"  17:8,  4.  **  Matt.  2:22. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  33 

loose  a  body  of  soldiers  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem,  who  put  to  death  upwards  of  3,000,* 
and  that  within  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  temple 
itself.  Moreover,  as  he  began,  so  he  went  on,  far 
surpassing  his  father  in  cruelty,  oppression,  and 
sensuality,  without  possessing  his  father's  talent 
or  energy,  till  he  was  accused  by  his  subjects  be- 
fore the  emperor  and  banished  to  Vieniie  in  Gaul,f 
a  fact  which  is  confirmed  by  Strabo.J  The  fears, 
therefore,  of  Joseph,  thus  incidentally  mentioned, 
were  grounded  on  facts  attested  in  the  clearest 
manner  by  competent  historians. 

Of  Herod  Antipas  what  do  we  learn  from  Jo- 
sephus  ?  That  he  was  tetrarch  of  Galilee  and  Pe- 
rsea,  that  he  first  married  a  daughter  of  Aretas, 
kino-  of  Arabia  Petrsea,  that  he  afterwards  com- 
mitted  adultery  with  Herodias,  the  wife  of  his 
half-brother  Herod  Philip,  that  this  involved  him 
in  a  war  with  Aretas,  who  invaded  his  territory 
and  defeated  him  with  great  loss.  This  defeat, 
Josephus  tells  us,  some  of  the  Jews  regarded  as  a 
judgment  of  God  upon  the  tetrarch  for  the  murder 
of  John  the  Baptist,  a  good  man,  and  held  in  high 
repute  by  his  nation,  whom  the  tetrarch  put  to 
death  through  fear  of  a  popular  insurrection^ 
The  genuineness  of  this  passage  is  admitted  even 

•  "Ant.,"  17:9,  1-3;  "  Bell.  Jud.,"  2:1,  3.         f  "Ant.,"  17:13,  2. 
t  Strabo,  16:2,  §  "Ant.,"  18:5,  2. 


TJNIVERSr 


34  HISTORICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

by  Strauss,  and  he  observes  that  between  the 
statement  of  the  historian,  who  attributes  the 
murder  to  fear  of  a  popular  rising,  and  that  of  the 
evangelist,  who  ascribes  it  to  offence  at  John's 
stern  rebuke  of  his  adultery,  there  is  no  real  con- 
tradiction. 

The  features  of  character  developed  by  the  te- 
trarch  and  Herodias  respectively  in  the  murder  of 
the  Baptist  are  strictly  in  keeping  with  all  we 
know  of  them  both  from  the  Jewish  historian. 
Herod  himself  is  weak  rather  than  bloodthirsty; 
his  tyranny  is  mingled  with  timidity  and  cunning, 
the  cunning  of  the  "fox,"  which  our  Lord  im- 
puted to  him.  *  The  malice  and  revengeful  tem- 
per of  Herodias,  on  the  other  hand,  are  clearly 
brought  out  in  the  narrative.  But  it  is  worth  ob- 
serving that  the  same  headstrong  determination, 
the  same  reckless  disregard  of  consequences,  which 
induced  her  now  to  demand  the  brave  Baptist's 
head  led  her  afterwards,  according  to  Josephus,  to 
urge  her  husband  to  go  to  Rome  and  claim  the 
title  of  "king,"  which  had  lately  been  given  to 
her  brother  Agrippa.f  Her  overweening  ambi- 
tion was  his  ruin.  Antipas  not  only  failed,  but 
was  deprived  of  his  dominions  and  banished  to 
Lyons,  in  Gaul. 

Herod  Philip  II.,  the  son  of  Herod  the  Great 

•  Luke  13  •  32.        f  Jos.,  ■■  Ant./'  17  :  7,  2 ;  "  Bell.  Jud.,"  2  : 9,  6. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  35 

and  Cleopatra,  received  on  his  father's  death  the 
tetrarchy  of  Itursea  and  Trachonitis.  The  Gospels 
tell  us  nothing  to  his  discredit.  Their  silence  is 
all  in  his  favor  and  is  strikingly  confirmed  by  the 
positive  statements  of  Josephus.  He  affirms  that 
his  rule  was  distinguished  by  justice  and  modera- 
tion, and  that  he  devoted  himself  entirely  to  the 
duties  of  his  office,  without  sharing  in  the  in- 
trigues which  disgraced  his  family.* 

The  life  of  Herod  Agrippa  L,  the  grandson  of 
Herod  the  Great,  was  marked  by  strange  vicissi- 
tudes. Brought  up  at  Rome,  imprisoned  by 
Tiberius  for  an  unguarded  speech,  f  he  was  re- 
leased by  Caligula,  who  gave  him  the  territories 
formerly  held  by  Philip  and  Lysanias,  with  the 
ensigns  of  royalty.  J  Afterwards,  in  return  for 
important  services  rendered  to  Claudius,  §  he  re- 
ceived not  only  the  territory  of  Antipas,  but  the 
government  of  Judaea  and  Samaria,  so  that  his 
entire  dominions  equalled  in  extent  the  kingdom 
of  his  grandfather.  His  zeal  against  the  church 
and  his  persecution  of  the  apostles  James  and 
Peter,  as  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  || 
seem  at  first  sight  to  stand  alone,  as  if  they  were 
sudden  acts  of  bigoted  hostility.  But,  as  illus- 
trated by  the  narrative  of  Josephus,  they  form 

•  "  Ant.,"  18 : 4,  6 ;  17  : 5,  4.  f  Ibid..  18  : 6,  7. 

t  Ibid.,  18:6,  10.      \  "Bell.  Jud.,"2:n   2-6.      ||  Acts  12:3. 


36  HISTORICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

parts  of  a  settled  policy.  No  sooner,  we  are  there 
told,  did  he  arrive  at  Jerusalem,  in  A.  D.  42,  than 
he  dedicated  in  the  temple  the  golden  chain  with 
which  he  had  been  presented  by  Caligula  and 
which  was  of  equal  weight  with  the  iron  one  he 
had  worn  when  imprisoned  by  Tiberius,  and  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  the  strictest  profession  of 
Judaism,*  paying  studious  court  to  the  Jews,  and 
especially  to  the  Pharisees.  He  offered  sacrifice 
every  day,  paid  the  expenses  of  certain  Nazarites 
on  the  completion  of  their  vows,  abstained  from 
every  legal  impurity,  remitted  the  house-tax  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  capital,  and  enriched  the 
new  suburb  of  Bezetha  with  a  wall.f  It  is  easy, 
therefore,  to  understand  how  such  a  king  would 
be  readily  roused  by  the  Jews,  whom  he  was  so 
anxious  to  please,  to  strike  a  deadly  blow  at  "  the 
Nazarenes."  The  accusations  which  had  been 
laid  against  Stephen,  that  the  new  Christian 
leader,  James,  spoke  against  the  temple  and  the 
law,  would  be  made  with  effect  before  such  a 
zealous  observer  of  Mosaic  ritual  as  was  Herod 
Agrippa.t 


*  "Ant.,"  19:6,  1.  f  Ibid.,  19:6,  3;  7,  2,  3. 

t  The  expression  in  Acts  12 :  2,  he  slew  James  with  the  sword, 
is  curiously  illustrated  by  the  Mishna.  There  we  find  it  men- 
tioned as  the  third  of  the  modes  of  execution  appointed  among 
the  Jews.  "The  ordinance  for  putting  to  death  by  the  sword  is 
as  follows:  the  man's  head  is  cut  off  with  the  sword,  as  is  wont 


THE    NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  37 

The  sudden  death  also  of  this  monarch  is 
strikingly  illustrated  by  the  Jewish  historian. 
After  he  had  reigned  three  years  "over  all 
Judsea"*  he  came  to  Csesarea,  A.  D.  44,  and 
"showed  he  could  play  the  heathen  there  with  as 
much  zeal  as  he  had  played  the  Pharisee  at  Jeru- 
salem." It  was  the  occasion  of  a  great  festival, 
in  honor,  some  have  thought,  of  the  return  of 
Claudius  in  safety  from  his  expedition  to  Britain,  f 
On  the  second  dayt  at  early  dawn  he  appeared  in 
the  theatre  and  gave  audience  to  an  embassy  from 
the  Phoenician  cities  of  Tyre  and  Sidon.  §  Arrayed 
in  a  royal  robe  of  silver  tissue  of  a  truly  wonderful 
contexture,  he  took  his  seat  on  the  bema  and 
made  a  set  harangue  to  the  Tyrians  and  Sidon ians.. 
The  reflection  of  the  sun's  rays  upon  his  gorgeous 
robe  "spread  a  dread  and  shuddering  over  those 
who  looked  intently  upon  it,  and,"  continues  Jo- 
sephus,  "his  flatterers  presently  cried  out,  one 
from  one  place  and  another  from  another,  that  he 
was  a  god.  And  they  added,  ( Be  thou  merciful  to 
us,  for  although  we  have  hitherto  reverenced  thee 
only  as  a  man,  yet  shall  we  henceforth  own  thee 
as  superior  to  mortal  nature.'  Upon  this  the  king 
did  neither  rebuke  them  nor  reject  their  impious 

to  be   done  by  royal  command"     See   Prof.  Lumby's   note  on 
Acts  12  :2. 

•  Jos.,  "  Ant.,"  19 : 8,  2.  f  The  "  set  day  "  of  Acts  12:21. 

J  Dion.,  60 :  23  ;  Suet.,  "  Claud.,"  17.        #  Acts  12 :  20. 


38  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

flattery.  But  presently  afterwards ....  a  violent 
pain  arose  in  his  belly,  having  begun  with  great 
severity.  He  therefore  looked  upon  his  friends 
and  said,  1 1,  whom  you  call  a  god,  am  command- 
ed presently  to  depart  this  life,  while  Providence 
thus  reproves  the  lying  words  you  just  now  said 
to  me;  and  I  who  was  called  by  you  immortal  am 
immediately  to  be  hurried  away  by  death.  But  I 
am  bound  to  accept  what  Providence  allots  as  it 
pleases  God.'  When  he  had  said  this  his  pain  be- 
came violent.  Accordingly  he  was  carried  into  the 
palace,  and  the  rumor  went  abroad  everywhere 
that  he  would  certainly  die  in  a  little  time.  .  .  . 
And  when  he  had  been  quite  worn  out  with 
pain  in  his  bowels  for  five  days  he  departed^  this 
life."* 

The  points  of  contact  in  the  two  accounts,  that 
of  St.  Luke  and  that  of  the  Jewish  historian,  are 
so  striking  that  they  deserve  special  attention. 
Josephus,  who  wrould  fully  sympathise  with  Agrip- 
pa  as  one  who  did  all  he  could  for  the  Jews  and 
was  in  high  favor  with  the  Romans,  "  describes 
the  form  in  which  the  king's  malady  made  itself 
apparent  at  first,  and  has  left  out  the  more  loath- 
some details  from  the  death  story  of  one  who  in 
his  eyes  was  a  great  king."  St.  Luke,  on  the 
other  hand,   "has  given  the  fuller  account,  be- 

•  Jos.,  "Ant.,"  19:8,  2. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT   SCRIPTURES.  39 

cause  his  object  was  to  emphasize  in  all  its  enor- 
mity the  sin  for  which  the  Jewish  historian  tells 
us  that  Herod  himself  felt  that  he  was  stricken." 

The  difference  between  the  two  narratives  is 
uso  slight  and  so  easy  to  be  accounted  for  that 
this  extract  from  Josephus  must  always  be  regard- 
ed as  a  most  weighty  testimony  to  the  historic 
accuracy  and  faithfulness  of  St.  Luke's  narra- 
tive."* 

On  the  death  of  Herod  Agrippa,  Judaea,  as  we 
have  already  seen,f  once  more  became  a  Roman 
province  under  Roman  procurators.  But  a  few 
years  later,  A.  D.  50,  the  small  kingdom  of  Chal- 
cis  was  conferred  by  the  Emperor  Claudius  on  the 
son  of  Agrippa,  Herod  Agrippa  II.,  who  after- 
wards received  other  territories  and  the  title  of 
"king. "J  Josephus  testifies  to  his  intimacy  with 
Festus;§  and  therefore  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
Roman  procurator  should  avail  himself  of  the 
judgment  of  the  Jewish  prince  as  regards  the  per- 
plexing questions  of  Jewish  law  urged  against  St. 
Paul.  ||  The  fondness  of  the  Herods  for  show 
comes  out  in  many  passages  of  Josephus,  and  that 
Festus  should  have  gratified  Agrippa's  love  of 
display  by  a  grand  procession  to  the  audience- 
chamber,  where  Berenice  could  sit  blazing  with 

•  Prof.  Lumby  on  Acts  12:23.  t  See  above,  p.  6. 

X  Acts  25:13.  I  "Ant.,"  20:8,  11.  ||  Acts  25:14-21. 


4-0  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

all  her  jewels,  attended  by  a  suite  of  followers  in 
all  the  gorgeousness  of  Eastern  pomp,  is  exactly 
what  we  should  have  expected.  The  remarks  of 
Festus  on  the  necessity  of  having  some  definite 
statement  to  send  to  Caesar  as  regards  the  appeal, 
and  their  consistency  with  known  historical  facts, 
have  been  already  alluded  to.  Equally  consistent 
with  historic  fact  is  the  remark  of  St.  Paul  that 
he  deemed  himself  happy  in  speaking  before  one 
who  had  received  from  his  father  an  elaborate 
training  in  all  matters  of  Jewish  religion  and  cas- 
uistry. *  No  less  consistent  is  the  cold  irony  and 
contempt  with  which  the  Jewish  king  met  the 
impassioned  appeal  of  the  apostle  and  his  efforts 
to  "persuade him  off-hand  M  to  be  "a  Christian. "f 
The  sneering  banter  chimes  in  with  the  temper  of 
one  who  was  resolved  "to  make  the  best  of  this 
world,"  and  who,  in  the  final  struggle,  like  Jose- 
phus  and  other  eminent  renegades,  sided  with  the 
conquerors  of  the  nation,  J  and  after  the  fall  of  the 
Holy  City  retired  to  Rome  with  the  sensual  Bere- 
nice, and  u  like  Josephus  may  have  watched  from 
a  Roman  window  the  gorgeous  procession  in 
which  the  victor  paraded  the  sacred  spoils  of  the 
temple." 

•  Acts  26:2,  3.  f  Acts  26:28. 

t  Josephus,  "  Bell.  Jud.,"  3:2,  4. 


THE    NEW  TESTAMENT   SCRIPTURES.  41 

IV.       THE   CONDITION    OF  THE  JEWISH   NATION. 

In  reference  to  the  moral  and  social  condition 
of  the  Jews  at  the  period  covered  by  the  New 
Testament,  whether  we  consider  those  who  were 
settled  in  Palestine  itself  or  those  who  were  dis- 
persed throughout  the  Roman  Empire,  there  is 
not  a  statement  advanced  but  what  is  corrobora- 
ted by  Josephus. 

As  for  the  Jews  in  Palestine  itself,  the  national 
historian  testifies  that  oppression  under  a  foreign 
yoke,  and  especially  the  persecution  of  their  re- 
ligion by  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  had  produced 
among  them  a  strict  separation  from  all  those 
that  were  not  of  the  elect  nation,  thus  inflaming 
their  contempt  and  hatred  for  foreign  customs, 
and  at  the  same  time  raising  to  a  high  degree 
their  national  feelings  and  attachment  to  the  reli- 
gion of  their  forefathers. 

Josephus  describes  their  division  into  sects  and 
the  relations  of  these  sects  to  each  other.*  A 
Pharisee  himself,  he  tells  us  of  the  Pharisees, 
what  we  might  infer  from  the  Gospels,  that  they 
presented  all  the  traits  of  the  national  character 
in  a  still  more  conspicuous  degree,  and  were  the 
most  influential,  especially  with  the  common  peo- 
ple; that  they  attached  the  utmost  importance  to 

•  "Antiquities,"  13:10,5. 


42  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

a  traditional  oral  law  given  to  complete  and  ex- 
plain the  written  law;*  that  they  were  rigorous 
in  exacting  attention  to  all  external  ceremonials, 
especially  washings,  fastings,  tithes,  and  alms; 
that  they  believed  in  a  future  state  of  rewards  and 
punishments,  and  acknowledged  the  existence  of 
angels  and  spirits;  and  that  they  were  excessively 
zealous  in  making  proselytes,  and  spared  no  efforts 
in  winning  over  believers  to  their  faith,  f 

As  regards  the  Sadducees,  he  not  only  dis- 
tinctly recognizes  their  existence,  but  places  their 
beginning  in  the  time  of  Jonathan,  the  successor 
of  Judas  Maccabeus,  B.  C.  160-143.  He  indicates 
that,  while  they  had  considerable  influence  in  the 
Sanhedrin,  they  numbered  their  followers  chiefly 
among  the  rich  and  influential  youths  of  Judaea;! 
that  they  denied  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,§  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  and  a  state  of  rewards  and 
punishments  after  death,  and  the  existence  of  an- 
gels and  spiritual  beings. 

With  respect  to  the  Samaritans,  Josephus 
agrees  with  the  sacred  narrative  as  regards  their 
origin,  and  records  that  they  were  largely  in- 
creased by  fugitives  from  the  neighboring  coun- 
tries and  by  apostates  and  rebels  against  the  order 

•  Comp.  Jos.,  "Ant.,"  13:10,  6  with  Matt.  15:2;  Mark  7:3,  4. 
f  "Ant.,"  18:1,  3.  t  "Ant.,"  18:1,  4;  13:10,  6. 

?  Comp.  Matt.  22:23  with  Jos.,  "Bell.  Jud.,"  2:8,  14;   "Ant.," 
18:1,  4. 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  43 

of  things  established  by  Ezra  and  Nehemiah;* 
that  in  the  troublous  times  of  Antiochus  Epipha- 
nes  they  escaped  the  fate  of  the  Jews  by  repudia- 
ting all  connection  with  Israel  and  dedicating 
their  temple  on  Mount  Gerizim  to  Jupiter,  f  He 
relates  many  instances  of  the  mutual  animosity 
which  brought  it  about  that  "  the  Jews  would 
have  no  dealings  with  the  Samaritans;"!  how,  in 
the  time  of  Antiochus  III.,  the  Samaritans  sold 
many  Jews  into  slavery  ;§  how  they  effected  an 
entrance  on  one  occasion  into  the  temple  on  the 
eve  of  the  Passover  and  scattered  human  bones  in 
the  courts  ;| |  how  on  another  they  waylaid  and  set 
upon  certain  Galileans  whose  "faces  were  set  to 
go  up  to  Jerusalem,  "Tf  and  murdered  a  considera- 
ble number  of  them  on  the  road.**  The  Jews,  on 
the  other  hand,  did  not  fall  short  in  their  recrimi- 
nations, and  in  travelling  from  the  south  to  the 
north  they  preferred  to  take  the  long  circuit 
through  Persea  rather  than  pass  through  the  ha- 
ted country,  ft 

The  terms  in  which  our  Lord,  and  St.  James 
after  him,  rebukes  the  moral  corruption  of  the 
national  life  find  a  striking  counterpart  in  the 
language  of  Josephus. 

*  "Ant.,"  ii  :8,  2,  6,  7.  f  "Ant.,"  12:5,  5;  comp.  2  Mace.  6:2. 

X  John  4:9.  $"  Ant.,"  12:4,  1. 

||  "Ant.,"  18:2,  2.  f  Luke  9:51. 

*-;•:-  «  Ant.,"  20:6,  1.  ft  Trench  on  "  The  Parables,"  p.  311. 


44  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS   OK 

"The  period,"  he  affirms,  "had  become  so 
prolific  in  iniquity  of  every  description  among  the 
Jews  that  no  work  of  evil  was  left  unperpetrated, 
so  universal  was  the  contagion,  both  in  public 
and  private,  and  such  the  emulation  to  surpass 
each  other  in  acts  of  impiety  towards  God  and  of 
injustice  towards  their  neighbors."*  Such  was 
the  ' c  impudence, ' '  he  says  in  another  place,  ' '  and 
boldness  that  had  seized  on  the  high  priests  that 
they  had  the  hardiness  to  send  their  servants  into 
the  threshing-floors  to  take  away  those  tithes  that 
were  due  to  the  priests,  insomuch  that  it  so  fell 
out  that  the  poorer  sort  of  the  priests  died  for 
want.  To  this  degree  did  the  violence  of  the 
seditious  prevail  over  all  right  and  justice,  "f 

At  the  same  time  he  attests  the  existence  of  a 
great  zeal  for  external  religion  and  a  superstitious 
regard  for  the  temple  and  its  hallowed  associa- 
tions, for  the  festivals  prescribed  by  the  law  and 
the  sacrifices  commanded  to  be  offered.  J  He  de- 
scribes the  proneness  of  the  people  to  take  fire  at 
the  slightest  insult  being  offered  to  their  national 
honor  or  the  sacredness  of  their  national  sanctu- 
ary. The  question  of  the  lawfulness  of  paying 
' '  tribute  to  Caesar, "  §  he  affirms,  led  to  the  most 
violent  disputes,  and  on  the  arrival  of  Quirinius 

•  "  Bell.  Jud.,"  7:8,  1.  f  "Ant.,"  20:8,  8. 

J  "Ant.,"  18:9,  3;  20:5,  3.  I  Matt.  22:17. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  45 

in  Judaea  to  carry  out  the  imperial  "census,"  a 
warm  controversy  sprang  up  as  to  the  legality  of 
the  slightest  submission  to  foreign  taxation;  Judas 
of  Galilee  declared  such  payment  a  direct  viola- 
tion of  the  law,  and  it  required  the  intervention 
of  a  considerable  number  of  the  chief  men  of  the 
nation  to  induce  the  people  to  submit  to  the  im- 
post at  all.*  As  regards  the  national  sanctuary 
and  the  city,  not  only  did  they  resist  the  attempt 
of  Pilate  to  introduce  the  silver  eagles  into  Jeru- 
salemf  and  the  insane  proposition  of  Caligula  to 
have  his  statue  set  up  in  the  temple, |  but  they 
would  not  allow  even  the  younger  Agrippa,  though 
he  was  a  friend  of  the  nation,  to  raise  the  height 
of  his  house  lest  he  should  command  a  view  of  the 
temple  courts.  They  instantly  ran  up  a  wall  to 
shut  out  the  prospect;  and  when  Festus  com- 
manded them  to  remove  it,  they  declared  they 
were  ready  to  suffer  any  kind  of  death  rather  than 
permit  even  the  slightest  insult  to  be  offered  to 
their  national  sanctuary,  and  appealed  from  him, 
when  he  was  obdurate,  to  the  Emperor  Nero,  who 
allowed  the  wall  to  stand.  § 

Again  do  we  read  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
how  on  one  occasion  more  than  forty  of  the  Jews 
bound  themselves  by  u  a  curse  that  they  would 

•  "Ant.,"  id: i,  i.  f  "Ant.,"  18:3,  1. 

"t  "Ant.,"  18:8,  2.  I  "Ant.,"  20:8,  11. 


46  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

neither  eat  nor  drink"  till  they  had  killed  St. 
Paul.  *  The  Jewish  historian  relates  an  incident 
which  is  almost  exactly  parallel  to  it  in  the  reign 
of  Herod  the  Great.  So  exasperated,  he  tells  us, 
were  many  against  the  king  for  violating  the  laws 
of  the  country  that  ten  men  bound  themselves  by 
an  oath  to  put  him  to  death.  Arming  themselves 
with  short  daggers,  which  they  hid  under  their 
clothes,  they  made  their  way  into  the  theatre, 
where  they  expected  him  to  arrive,  intending,  if 
he  came,  to  fall  upon  him  and  despatch  him  with 
their  weapons,  f  Obtaining  information  of  the 
plot,  Herod  condemned  the  conspirators  to  the 
most  cruel  tortures.  But  so  far  from  being  af- 
frighted, they  affirmed  they  were  quite  ready  to 
undergo  anything  he  might  be  disposed  to  inflict, 
and  patiently  submitted  to  the  most  terrible  tor- 
ments. How  little  the  spectacle  affected  the  peo- 
ple is  proved  by  the  fact  that  they  seized  the  trai- 
tor who  revealed  the  plot  and  tore  him  limb  from 
limb  and  flung  the  fragments  to  the  dogs.  %  Again, 
just  at  the  close  of  his  life,  certain  daring  youths, 
at  the  instigation  of  two  of  the  most  learned  rab- 
bis, Judas  and  Matthias,  resolved  at  all  hazards  to 
cut  down  the  large  golden  eagle,  the  emblem  of 
Roman  power,  which  Herod  had  placed  over  the 
principal  gate  of  the  temple.     Armed  with  hatch- 

•  Acts  23:12.  f  "Ant,"  15:8,  3,  4.  X  Ibid->  l5'-*>  4- 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  47 

ets,  they  lowered  themselves  by  thick  ropes  from 
the  roof  and  cut  away  the  obnoxious  emblem. 
Being  brought  before  Herod  they  boldly  avowed 
the  deed  and  gloried  in  its  success,  declaring  that 
the  law  of  their  country  bound  them  to  do  and 
dare  everything  for  their  religion,  and  smiled  at 
the  sentence  which  condemned  them  to  be  burned 
alive.  * 

Do  we  trace  again  in  the  New  Testament  a 
confident  expectation  of  the  coming  of  a  Deliverer 
in  the  person  of  the  Messiah  ?  Do  we  find  Zacha- 
rias  and  Elisabeth,  f  Simeon  and  Anna,  J  the  wo- 
man of  Samaria,  §  and  the  rulers  of  the  nation 
alike  animated  by  this  belief?  Not  only  does 
Josephus  testify  that  during  the  Roman  war|| 
there  was  a  general  expectation  among  the  Jews, 
founded  upon  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, that  one  of  their  own  race  and  country 
should  obtain  the  empire  of  the  world,  but  Taci- 
tus and  Suetonius  affirm  that  a  reflection  of  this 
prophecy  had  become  prevalent  in  the  Bast.  Sue- 
tonius asserts  that  "  for  a  long  time  there  had 
been  a  rumor  in  circulation  throughout  the  Orient 
that  one  rising  out  of  Judaea  was  destined  to  sway 
the  world. "If 


•  "Ant.,"  17:6,  3.  f  Luke  1:13. 

t  Luke  2:25,  36.  g  John  4:25, 

[|  "Bell.  Jud.,"6:5,  4.  f  Suet.,  "  Oct.,"  94;  "Vesp.,"4. 


48  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  ' 

Tacitus  expresses  himself  almost  in  the  self- 
same words,  adding  that  the  prediction  was  found 
in  certain  writings  of  the  priests,  and  that  it 
assured  the  empire  of  the  earth  to  one  sprung 
from  the  Jewish  stock.  * 

So  much  for  the  Jews  in  Palestine.  But  there 
were  also  the  Jews  uof  the  Dispersion,  "f  How 
wide  this  dispersion  was  may  be  judged  from  the 
enumeration  given  of  the  witnesses  of  the  be- 
stowal of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 
We  find  there  mentioned  "  Parthiaus  and  Medes 
and  Blamites  and  the  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia, 
in  Judaea  and  Cappadocia,  in  Pontus  and  Asia,  in 
Phrygia  and  Pamphylia,  in  Egypt  and  the  parts 
of  Libya  about  Cyrene,  sojourners  from  Rome, 
Cretans,  and  Arabians."!  In  the  course  also  of 
the  travels  of  St.  Paul,  whether  he  is  in  Asia 
Minor  or  Greece,  we  find  him  coming  across  large 
bodies  of  Jewish  residents  at  Antioch§  and  Ephe- 
sus,||  at  Philippic  and  Thessalonica,**  at  Ath- 
ensft  and  Corinth.  %% 

What  light  do  historical  writers  throw  upon 
these  facts  ?  Curtius  tells  us  that  Alexander  the 
Great  located  great  numbers  of  the  chosen  people 

•  Tacitus,  "  History,"  5:13. 

f  [Revised  Version],  John  7:35;  Jas.  1:1;  1  Pet.  1:1. 
X  Acts  2:9-11.  I  Acts  13:14.  ||  Acts  19:1,  10. 

%  Acts  16:12.  *•  Acts  17:1.  ft  Acts  17:17- 

Xt  Acts  18:4. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  49 

ill  his  new  city  of  Alexandria.  Josephus  testifies 
that  Seleucus  Nicator  invited  them  to  Antioch  in 
Syria,*  and  that  Antiochus  the  Great  removed 
two  thousand  Jewish  families  from  Babylon  to 
Lydia  and  Phrygia.  f 

"The  holy  city,  the  place  of  my  nativity," 
writes  Herod  Agrippa  I.  to  Caligula, J  "is  the 
metropolis,  not  of  Judaea  only,  but  of  well  nigh 
every  other  country,  by  means  of  the  colonies 
which  have  been  sent  out  of  it  from  time  to 
time — some  to  the  neighboring  countries  of  Egypt, 
Phoenicia,  Syria,  and  Ccele-Syria — some  to  more 
distant  regions,  as  Pamphylia,  Cilicia,  Asia  as  far 
as  Bithynia,  and  the  recesses  of  Pontus;  and  in 
Europe,  Thessaly,  Bceotia,  Macedonia,  CEolia, 
Attica,  Argos,  Corinth,  together  with  the  most 
famous  of  the  islands,  Eubcea,  Cyprus,  and  Crete; 
to  say  nothing  of  those  who  dwell  beyond  the 
Euphrates.  For,  excepting  a  small  part  of  the 
Babylonian  and  other  satrapies,  all  the  countries 
which  have  a  fertile  territory  possess  Jewish  in- 
habitants, so  that  if  thou  shalt  show  this  kindness 
to  my  native  place  thou  wilt  benefit  not  one  city 
only,  but  thousands  in  every  region  of  the  world, 
in  Europe,  in  Asia,  in  Africa,  on  the  continents 

•  Jos.,  "Ant.,"  12:3,  1.  f  "Ant.,"  12:3,  4. 

J  As  reported  by  Philo  Judaeus,  "  Legat  ad  Caium,"  pp.  1031, 
1032,  quoted  by  Rawlinson,  "  Bampton  Lectures,"  p.  248. 

4 


50  HISTORICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

and  in  the  islands,  on  the  shores  of  the  sea  and 
in  the  interior."* 

So  much  for  the  extent  of  their  dispersion. 
As  for  the  national  peculiarities  which  they  retain 
in  the  lands  whither  they  are  scattered,  these  too 
are  abundantly  illustrated.  As  we  find  them  de- 
scribed in  the  New  Testament,  so  we  find  them 
in  the  pages  of  Josephus  and  Philo,  of  Horace  and 
Juvenal,  of  Tacitus  and  Suetonius.  In  these  wri- 
ters we  come  across  them  as  in  the  Acts,  partly 
as  native  Jews,  partly  as  proselytes  ;t  they  have 
their  places  of  worship,  sometimes  called  syna- 
gogues, sometimes  "proseuchae  "J  or  oratories, 
either  by  the  seaside?  or  the  banks  of  a  river. 
At  Jerusalem  the  Jews  of  the  "  Diaspora  "  have  a 
synagogue  specially  assigned  to  them,  and  at 
Rome  they  appropriate  a  whole  quarter. 

V.     The  Greek  and  Roman  World. 

But  it  is  not  in  reference  only  to  Palestine 
and  the  elect  nation  that  we  notice  the  conspicu- 
ous accuracy  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment.    It  comes  out  also  with  equally  striking 

•  Comp.  also  Philo  "  in  Flacc,"  p.  971,  e. 

t  Jos.,  "  Ant.,"  20:2  ;  "  Bell.  Jud.,"  7:3. 

%  Comp.  Juv.,  "  Sat.,"  3:279. 

§  In  the  decree  of  the  Halicarnassians,  as  reported  by  Jose- 
phus, "Ant.,"  14:10,  23,  Jews  are  allowed  to  construct  oratories 
{proseuchce)  by  the  seaside,  according  to  the  custom  of  their  na- 
tion. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT   SCRIPTURES.  51 

force  in  their  description  of  the  Greek  and  Ro- 
man world. 

Thus  let  us  follow  St.  Paul  to  any  of  the 
places  which  he  visited  during  his  missionary 
journeys,  we  find  the  scenes  described  fully  illus- 
trated, sometimes  by  the  actual  words  of  classical 
poets  and  historians,  sometimes  by  ancient  coins 
and  the  inscriptions  on  ancient  monuments. 

Thus  let  us  follow  him  to  Cyprus,  where  he 
landed  on  his  first  missionary  journey.  From 
Salamis,  on  the  eastern  coast,  he  makes  his  way 
to  Paphos,  at  the  southwestern  extremity  of  the 
island,  the  seat  of  the  Roman  Government  and 
the  residence  of  the  Governor,  Sergius  Paulus. 
What  is  the  title  the  writer  gives  to  him?  He 
calls  him  a  proconsul.  *  Is  this  correct  ?  At  first 
we  might  think  not,  for  Dio  Cassius  tells  us  that 
originally  it  was  an  imperial  province  and  there- 
fore governed  by  a  proprcetor  or  legatus.\  But 
after  a  while  we  find  that  Augustus  restored  Cy- 
prus to  the  senate  in  exchange  for  Dalmatia,J 
from  which  time  forward  its  governors  were  pro- 
consuls. The  sacred  writer,  therefore,  is  quite 
correct,  and  he  is  still  further  confirmed  by  an  ex- 
tant Cyprian  coin  of  the  reign  of  Claudius  which 
bears  this  title  and  an  inscription  which  has  been 
found  supplying  us  with  the  names  of  two  addi- 

•  Acts  13:7,  R.  V.         f  Dio  Cassius,  53:12.        %  Dion,  59:4. 


52  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

tional  governors  of  the  island,  who  likewise  bear 
the  title  of  proconsul. 

The  same  title  with  equal  correctness  is  ap- 
plied to  the  governors  of  the  provinces  of  "  Acha- 
ia"*  and  Roman  uAsia,"f  both  of  which  Dio 
Cassius  places  among  senatorial  provinces.  But 
the  same  authority,  supported  by  Strabo,  affirms 
that  Syria,  which  the  apostle  had  just  left  before 
sailing  to  Cyprus,  was  an  imperial  province,  and 
therefore  governed  by  a  proprcetor.  Now,  on  turn- 
ing to  the  narrative  in  the  Acts,  what  do  we  find  ? 
No  such  title  as  proconsul  is  ever  applied  by  the 
sacred  writer  to  Quirinius,  the  governor  of  Syria, 
or  to  Pilate,  Felix,  and  Festus,  the  procurators  of 
Judaea,  which  was  a  dependency  of  that  great  and 
unsettled  province. 

Proceeding  from  Cyprus  to  Asia  Minor,  the 
apostle  reaches  Antioch  in  Pisidia.J  This  town, 
being  of  considerable  importance,  had  been  ad- 
vanced by  Augustus,  like  Alexandria  -  Troas  § 
and  Philippi,||  to  the  dignity  of  a  Roman  colony. 
Originally  designed  as  military  safeguards  of  the 
frontiers  and  to  check  insurgent  provincials,  Ro- 
man colonies  were  miniature  resemblances  of  the 
imperial  city  and  parts  of  the  fortifications  of  the 
empire.     The  title  of  proconsul  would  have  been 

•  Acts  18:12.  f  Acts  19:38.  %  Acts  13:14. 

a  Acts  16:8.  II  Acts  16:12. 


THE    NEW   TESTAMENT   SCRIPTURES.  53 

utterly  inapplicable  to  the  governor  of  a  Roman 
colony,  and  the  writer  of  the  Acts  never  so  uses  it. 
At  the  Pisidian  Antioch  those  in  authority  are 
termed  u  the  chiefs  of  the  city."*  At  Philippi 
St.  Paul  and  his  companions  are  dragged  into  the 
market-place  before  "the  rulers,  "f  and  this  gen- 
eral term  not  being  sufficient,  the  special  members 
cf  the  magistracy  are  indicated  in  the  next  verse 
by  the  title  "  praetors. "  J  These  were  the  "du- 
umviri," specially  appointed,  as  Cicero  tells  us, 
to  preside  over  the  administration  of  justice,  in 
cases  where  there  was  no  appeal  to  Rome,  in  the 
colonies  of  tfye  empire,  who,  like  the  one  described 
in  Horace,  §  at  Tivoli,  arrogate  to  themselves  the 
title  of  "praetors."  When  some  Greek  title  was 
necessary,  as  at  Philippi,  the  term  oTpdr^yoi  would 
naturally  be  accepted,  and  this  is  the  exact  term 
employed  in  the  Acts.  || 

Everything  that  befell  the  apostle  at  Philippi 
reminds  us  that  we  are  in  a  Roman  "colony." 
The  Jews,  with  the  contemptuous  religious  toler- 
ance of  the  period,  are  allowed  to  have  their 
proseucha  or  "place  of  prayer"  outside  the  gate.Tf 
The  "praetors"  command  that  the  apostle  and 

•  Acts  13:50.  f  Acts  16:19. 

%  See  the  Revised  Version  in  the  margin  of  Acts  16:20,  22. 
\  Hor.,  "Sat.,"  1:5,34. 
||  Acts  15:20,  22,35,  36,  38- 
\  Acts  16:13,  see  above,  p.  46. 


54  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

his  companions  be  beaten  with  "  the  rods"*  of 
the  Roman  lictor;  and  the  use  of  this  particular 
word  is  an  indication  that  St.  L,uke  was  aware  of 
this  special  kind  of  scourging,  and  perhaps  be- 
held the  infliction.  The  "inner  prison,"  into 
which  the  prisoners  are  thrust,  foul  and  loath- 
some and  probably  underground,  recalls  the  Tul- 
lianum  of  the  capital. f  The  u stocks"  where- 
with their  limbs  are  confined  are  what  the  Romans 
called  nervus,  which  we  often  find  mentioned  in 
Roman  comedy.  %  The  duumviri,  alarmed  by  the 
earthquake,  send  on  the  following  morning  their 
servants§  to  release  the  prisoners.  St.  Paul  pleads 
that  he  and  his  companions  have  been  publicly 
scourged,  without  any  form  of  trial  and  uncon- 
demnned, in  direct  violation  of  Roman  law,  a  vio- 
lation which,  even  in  the  instance  of  the  Catili- 
narian  conspirators,  brought  so  much  odium  upon 
Cicero.  ||  He  still  further  insists  that  their  rights 
as  Roman  citizens  have  been  infringed;!  and  the 
praetors,  alarmed  at  what  they  had  done,  and 
dreading  exposure  before  the  emperor,  whom  all 
fear,  hasten  to  the  prisoners  and  beg  them  to  de- 

•  Acts  16:  22,  R.  V.  This  is  one  of  the  occasions,  no  doubt,  to 
which  St.  Paul  alludes,  2  Cor.  11:25  :  "  Thrice  was  I  beaten  with 
rods." 

f  Livy,  29:22.  %  Plaut.,  "Capt.,"  3:5,  71. 

$  The  lictors,  "rod-bearers,"  who  had  scourged  the  apostle  the 
day  before. 

I!  Cic,  "ad  Fam.,"  v.  2.  5[  Acts  16:37. 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  55 

part  from  the  city,  and  the  apostle  realizes  the 
truth  of  Cicero's  words:  "  How  often  has  this  ex- 
clamation, I  am  a  Roman  citizen,  brought  aid  and 
safety  even  among  barbarians  in  the  remotest 
part  of  the  earth!"*  Thus  the  political  atmos- 
phere of  the  Roman  colony  is  wholly  Roman. 

"Nor,"  it  has  been  observed,!  "is  this  feature 
entirely  lost  sight  of  when  we  turn  from  St.  Luke's 
narrative  to  St.  Paul's  Epistle.  Addressing  a 
Roman  colony  from  the  Roman  metropolis,  wri- 
ting as  a  citizen  to  citizens,  he  recurs  to  the  polit- 
ical franchise  as  an  apt  symbol  of  the  higher 
privileges  of  their  heavenly  calling,  to  the  polit- 
ical life  as  a  suggestive  metaphor  for  the  duties  of 
their  Christian  profession."! 

Very  striking  is  the  contrast  between  the  po- 
litical allusions  at  Philippi  and  those  at  Thessalo- 
nica,  which  the  apostle  visits  so  soon  after  his  re- 
lease. Thessalonica  is  not  a  Roman  colony,  b«t 
a  "free  city"  like  Tarsus,  the  Syrian  Antioch, 
Bphesus,  and  Athens.  Here  the  political  atmos- 
phere is  not  so  wholly  Roman.  The  town  con- 
tains the  chief  synagogue  of  the  Jews  in  this  part 
of  Macedonia,  while  the  Greek  proselytes  and  the 

*  Cic,  " in  Verrem"  v.  66. 

f  Bishop  Lightfoot's  ''Commentary  on  the  Philippians,"  p.  51. 

X  Comp.  Phil.  1:27,  "  Only  behave  as  citizens  worthily  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ,"  R.  V.,  margin,  Phil.  3:20,  "  Our  citizenship  is  in 
heaven." 


56  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

influential  women  are  conspicuous.  The  Jews, 
furious  at  the  spread  of  the  obnoxious  tenets  of 
the  apostle,  gather  together  a  throng  of  idlers 
from  the  rabble,  *  throw  the  town  into  an  uproar, 
and  falling  upon  the  house  of  Jason,  where  the 
apostle  was  lodging,  seek  to  drag  him  and  his 
companion  before  ■ '  the  assembly  of  the  people, ' ' 
or  "the  Demos."  The  occurrence  of  this  term 
shows  the  historic  truthfulness  of  the  narrative. 
The  general  characteristics  of  a"  free  city  ' '  are 
maintained.  But  besides  "the  Demos,"  the  town 
has  its  supreme  magistrates.  Who  are  these? 
Had  the  writer  termed  them  "proconsuls"  or 
"propraetors"  he  would  have  involved  himself  in 
a  considerable  error.  But  he  does  nothing  of  the 
kind.  He  calls  them  "  politarchs,"f  a  title  not 
found  in  books  from  which  an  impostor  might 
have  gathered  the  fact.  Is  he,  then,  guilty  of  any 
intake  ?  Evidence  found  only  on  ancient  mon- 
uments and  accidentally  brought  to  light  in  mod- 
ern times  attests  his  fidelity  to  facts.  An  inscrip- 
tion still  legible  on  an  archway  in  Thessalonica 
gives  this  very  title,  "politarchs,"  to  the  magis- 
trates of  the  place,  informs  us  of  their  number, 
and  mentions  the  names  of  some  who  bore  the 
office  not  long  before  the  day  of  St.  Paul.  Thus 
the  title,  as  corroborated  by  monumental  history, 

*  Acts  17:5.  f  Acts  17:6,  8. 


THE   NEW   TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  57 

is  perfectly  correct.  And  what  is  the  charge 
urged  before  these  magistrates  against  the  apos- 
tle? Nothing  is  heard  of  religious  ceremonies 
which  the  citizens,  being  Romans,  may  not  law- 
fully adopt.  *  All  the  anxiety  both  of  people  and 
magistrates  is  turned  to  the  one  point  of  showing 
their  loyalty  to  the  emperor,  f  No  lictors  with 
rods  and  fasces  appear  upon  the  scene,  as  at  Phi- 
lippi,  to  execute  the  command  of  Roman  officers. 
A  mixed  mob  of  Greeks  and  Jews  are  anxious  to 
show  themselves  "  Caesar's  friends;"  and  when 
they  have  "  taken  security  "  of  Jason  for  his  good 
conduct,  they  are  satisfied  to  let  the  accused  go 
free. 

From  Thessalonica  let  us  accompany  the  apos- 
tle to  Athens.  Here  it  is  said  of  him  that  "his 
spirit  was  provoked  within  him  as  he  beheld  the 
city  full  of  idols.  "J  Classical  authors  illustrate  to 
the  full  the  fact  here  stated.  Pausanias,  who 
visited  the  city  about  fifty  years  after  the  apostle, 
tells  us  how,  at  the  very  entrance  of  the  Peiraic 
Gateway,  temples  of  the  gods  confronted  the  trav- 
eller: here  one  sacred  to  Neptune,  there  one  to 
Minerva,  there  a  third  to  Ceres.     On  passing  the 

*  Acts  16:21. 

f  Acts  17:7.  The  Julian  laws  had  greatly  extended  the  sweep 
of  the  charge  of  treason,  which  charge  Tacitus  tells  us  "then 
crowned  all  indictments."     Tacitus,  "  Ann.,"  3:38. 

J  Acts  17:16,  R.  V. 


58  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

gate  the  eye  rested  on  the  sculptured  forms  of 
many  deities,  while  on  entering  the  Agora  and 
looking  up  to  the  Areopagus,  or  forward  towards 
the  Acropolis,  a  series  of  sanctuaries  was  visible. 
The  Areopagus  itself  might  be  called,  in  the 
words  of  Xenophon,  "one  entire  altar,  sacrifice, 
and  votive  offering  to  the  gods;"  and  it  is  plain 
that  the  Roman  satirist  hardly  exaggerated  when 
he  said  it  was  "easier  to  find  a  god  at  Athens 
than  a  man."*  But  we  are  confronted  not  mere- 
ly with  the  religion  but  the  philosophy  of  Greece. 
The  Epicureans,  with  one  of  whom  Cicero  lodged 
on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  the  city,  and  the 
Stoics,  whose  "painted  cloister"  figures  in  the 
writings  of  L,ucian,  encounter  the  apostle.  They 
convey  him  to  the  Areopagus,  and  with  that  na- 
tional curiosity  to  learn  the  latest  novelty  which 
Cleonf  charges  against  his  countrymen  and  De- 
mosthenesj  alludes  to  in  more  than  one  of  his  ora- 
tions, desire  to  know  what  were  the  strange  doc- 
trines which  the  apostle  taught  and  the  strange 
gods  whom  he  announced. 

With  singular  tact  the  apostle,  taking  "the 
pebble  out  of  their  own  brook,"  to  use  the  words 
of  Chrysostom,  makes  an  inscription  on  an  altar 

•  Compare  also  Livy,  45 : 29.  f  "Thuc,"  3:3s. 

t  "  Phil.,"  1:4,  5.  He  complains  that  his  countrymen  were  in  the 
habit  of  playing  the  part  of  spectators  in  displays  of  oratory,  and 
listeners  to  stories  of  what  others  had  done. 


THE    NEW  TESTAMENT   SCRIPTURES.  59 

which  the  Athenians  had  erected  to  ■ '  an  un- 
known god"  a  text  for  his  discourse  and  pro- 
claims to  them  Him  whom  they  ignorantly  wor- 
shipped. We  have  abundant  evidence  of  the  ex- 
istence at  Athens  of  such  altars  as  the  apostle  de- 
scribes. Treating  of  one  of  the  ports  of  Athens, 
Pausanias  affirms*  that  there  were  three  "altars 
to  gods  styled  unknown,"  and  in  this  agrees  Phi- 
lostratus  in  his  life  of  Apollonius.  t  Thus  few  as 
are  the  verses  in  the  Acts  containing  a  description 
of  the  Athenians  and  of  their  city,  the  incidental 
allusions  are  singularly  truthful  and  very  skilful- 
ly portray  the  leading  features  of  Athenian  char- 
acter. 

The  sacred  writer  moves  with  equal  ease  and 
freedom  when  he  describes  the  tumult  in  the 
Bphesian  capital  of  Roman  Asia.  Coins  current 
at  the  date  when  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  was 
written,  and  now  existing,  are  stamped  with  the 
image  of  the  Ephesian  Artemis,  the  prolific  "mo- 
ther of  life,"  the  presiding  deity  of  the  famous 
temple  in  the  city,  often  described  by  classical 
historians  as  one  of  "the  wonders  of  the  world." 
Inscriptions  brought  to  light  by  recent  explora- 

*  Pausanias  1:1,  4. 

f  He  says,  "  At  Athens  there  are  erected  altars  for  unknown 
gods."  Prof.  Lximby  quotes  a  Latin  inscription  on  an  altar  at 
Ostia,  now  in  the  Vatican,  "  Signiun  indeprehensibilis  del"  which 
is  very  like  the  inscription  alluded  to  by  the  apostle. 


60  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

tions*  contain  the  remarkable  biblical  title  of 
N£(j/copof)t  applied  to  Ephesus  as  "the  guardian  of 
the  shrine  of  her  whose  image  was  reported  to 
have  fallen  down  from  heaven."  L,ittle  models 
of  her  shrine,  we  further  learn  from  classical  au- 
thors, were  made  by  the  silversmiths  and  worn  as 
ornaments  and  amulets,  while  mysterious  sym- 
bols, called  "  Ephesian  letters,"  copied  from  the 
inscriptions  on  various  parts  of  the  image,  were 
deemed  a  safeguard  against  demons  and  all  kinds 
of  evil.  But  the  sacred  historian  is  also  equally 
accurate  as  regards  the  political  status  of  the  city. 
Ephesus,  as  we  have  seen, J  was  a  "free  city,"  and 
it  retained  even  under  the  Romans  its  old  dem- 
ocratic constitution,  and  Josephus  quotes  a  letter 
of  Dolabella  to  "the  senate,  magistrates,  and  peo- 
ple of  the  Ephesians."§  In  strict  accordance  with 
this  we  find  "the  proconsuls"  spoken  of,||  and 
"the  town-clerk,"  or  "recorder,"  and  the  Asi- 
archs,1f  who,  like  the  sediles  at  Rome,  presided 
over  the  games  and  held  a  kind  of  sacerdotal  posi- 
tion. The  tumult  in  the  theatre,  the  disorderly 
cries  of  the  rabble,  the  business-like  address  of  the 
town-clerk,  the  allusion  to  the  assize  courts,**  the 

*  See  Wood's  "  Ephesus." 

f  Acts  19:35;  "temple-keeper  "  in  the  R.  V. 

%  See  above,  p.  51.  £  "  Ant.,"  14  :  10,  12. 

||  Acts  19:38,  R.  V.  \  V.  31,  R.  V.,  margin. 

•:::::  y  -58,  Revised  Version. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  6 1 

fear  of  the  displeasure  of  the  Roman  Government, 
all  these  minute  and  incidental  touches  are  con- 
sistent alike  with  each  other  and  with  contem- 
porary historical  and  monumental  illustrations. 

Or  if  we  turn  to  the  great  capital  of  the  West, 
how  true  are  the  incidental  allusions  to  the  details 
of  life  there  and  the  imperial  system  !  Every 
step  the  apostle  takes  after  reaching  Puteoli,  the 
great  emporium  of  the  Alexandrian  corn-ships,  as 
a  letter  of  the  philosopher  Seneca  attests,  lies 
through  scenes  immortalized  in  classic  history, 
which  no  writer  of  a  feigned  narrative  would  have 
dared  to  press  into  his  service.  The  courteous 
centurion*  delivers  up  his  charge  on  his  arrival  at 
the  imperial  city,  and  the  favorable  way  in  which 
he  could  speak  of  Paul  doubtless  contributed  to 
the  fact  that  he  was  kept  separate  from  the  rest  of 
the  prisoners  and  allowed  to  take  up  his  abode  in 
a  hired  lodging  with  the  soldier  to  whom  he  was 
chained,  t  What  contradiction  can  be  alleged 
here  with  classical  writers?     Seneca!  and  Taci- 


*  The  centurions  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  are  uni- 
formly spoken  of  in  terms  of  praise,  whether  in  the  Gospels  or  the 
Acts.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  this  with  the  statements  of 
Polybius  (6 :  24),  that  the  centurions  were  chosen  by  merit,  and  so 
are  men  remarkable  not  so  much  for  their  daring  courage  as  for 
their  deliberation,  constancy,  and  strength  of  mind  ;  who,  not 
eager  in  beginning  a  battle,  would  keep  their  ground,  however 
hardly  pressed,  and  determine  to  die  rather  than  leave  their  post. 

f  Acts  28: 16,  30,  R.  V.  $  "  De  Tranquill.,"  10  ;  "  Epist.,"  5. 


62  HISTORICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

tus*  alike  inform  us  that  according  to  the  rules  of 
the  custodia  militaris,  a  species  of  custody  intro- 
duced at  the  commencement  of  the  empire,  pris- 
oners were  commonly  fastened  by  a  chain  passed 
from  their  right  wrist  to  the  left  wrist  of  their 
keeper.  Intolerably  irksome  as  confinement  with 
this  "coupling-chain"  must  have  been,  and  for  a 
Jew  far  more  painful  than  for  a  Gentile,  the  apos- 
tle "redeemed  the  time"  and  converted  even  his 
bonds  into  an  occasion  of  making  known  his  cause 
and  the  message  of  the  gospel  to  the  various  sol- 
diers to  whom  in  succession  he  was  chained  day 
after  day  and  night  after  night,  f  What  was  the 
result?  The  "Word"  found  its  way  to  the  im- 
perial guards,  the  praetorian  regiments,  and  into 
"Caesar's  household."!  Does  Tacitus  contradict 
this  as  an  impossibility?  He  distinctly  tells§  us 
that  Tiberius,  in  his  capacity  of  "praetor,"  or 
commander-in-chief,  concentrated  the  cohorts  of 
the  praetorian  guards  outside  the  Colline  gate  at 
the  northeast  of  the  city.  And  as  for  the  ' '  house- 
hold of  Caesar,  "||  the  sepulchral  columbaria, 
which  late  researches  have  laid  bare  at  Rome, 
have  illustrated  in  a  most  striking  manner  the 
number  and  the  variety  of  the  employments  of 
the  thousands  of  slaves  and  freedmen  included  in 

*  Tac,  "  Ann.,"  4 :  28.  f  Farrar's  "  St.  Paul,"  2  :  391. 

%  Phil.  1:13;  4:22.  I  Tac,  "Ann.,"  4:2.  |]  Phil.  4:22. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  63 

the  "Domus  Augusta."  Nay,  several  of  the 
names  found  among  those  in  these  exhumed  re- 
cesses occur  also  in  the  long  list  of  friends  sa- 
luted by  St.  Paul  some  three  years  before  in  his 
Epistle  to  the  Romans;*  and  if  we  assume  with 
Bishop  Lightfoot  that  the  Epistle  to  the  Philip- 
piansf  was  written  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the 
apostle  in  the  metropolis,  the  members  of  Caesar's 
household  who  send  their  salutations  to  Philippi 
may  be  looked  for  in  the  same  catalogue  and  illus- 
trated by  the  same  monumental  testimony. 

VI.     General  Conclusion. 

The  historical  illustrations  which  it  has  been 
possible  to  review  within  the  compass  of  this  tract 
are  a  few  out  of  many  that  might  be  brought  for- 
ward. But  when  we  look  back,  even  upon  the 
short  course  that  we  have  traversed,  we  have  seen 
enough  to  convince  us  of  their  evidential  value. 
There  is  no  disputing  the  fact  that  short  as  is  the 
period  covered  by  the  writers  of  the  New  Testa- 

*  In  Rom.  16:8  we  have  Ampiias,  a  contraction  of  Ampliatus. 
The  columbaria  give  among  those  in  the  imperial  household 
AMPLIATVS.  HILARI.  AUGUSTOR.  LIBERTI.  SERV.  VILI- 
CUS  ;  Urbanus.  TI.  CLAVDI.  VRBANI.  SER.  MENSORIS. 
^EDIFICIORVM;  Slachys.  STACHYS.  MARCELL^E.  MEDI- 
CVS  ;  Tryphcena.  D.  M.  TRYPHEN.E.  VALERIA.  TRY- 
PHENA.  MATRI.  B.  M.  F.  ET  VALERIVS.  FVTIANVS ;  and 
so  with  many  others.     See  Lightfoot's  "  Philippians,"  pp.  172-174. 

f  Lightfoot's  "Philippians,"  p.  171. 


64  HISTORICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

ment  it  falls  strictly  within  the  domain  of  history 
and  abounds  in  the  most  complicated  phases  of 
the  political,  moral,  social,  and  religious  life  of  the 
Jewish  nation,  and  could  not  fail  to  have  occa- 
sioned the  greatest  perplexity  to  an  ordinary  nar- 
rator. 

There  is  no  disputing  also  the  fact  that  the 
writers  of  the  New  Testament  handle  these  phases 
with  an  absence  of  all  strain  or  effort.  They 
"move  easily  and  freely  in  their  armor,"  and  al- 
lude incidentally  and  naturally  to  numberless  lit- 
tle incidents  bound  up  with  special  times,  occa- 
sions, and  circumstances,  each  having  its  own 
local  or  national  or  religious  or  political  coloring, 
each  marked  by  the  most  precise  and  graphic 
touches,  which  no  marvellous  skill  of  adjustment 
and  no  perfection  of  artistic  power  in  that  or  any 
other  age  could  have  elaborated  unless  they  were 
dealing  with  strictly  historical  facts  and  as  true 
men  were  dealing  truly  with  actual  events  occur- 
ring in  their  own  times. 

There  have  been,  it  must  be  allowed,  signal 
triumphs  won  by  the  genius  of  poetic  and  literary 
imagination.  But  in  all  literature  there  is  no 
other  instance  of  the  existence  of  a  number  of 
separate  and  independent  documents  bound  up  in 
a  single  volume,  relating  to  an  historical  period, 
which  had  its  records,  its  archives,  and  its  monu- 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  65 

ments,  and  purporting  to  give  an  account  of 
contemporaneous  events,  that  can  be  shown  to 
teem  with  such  minute  and  truthful  incidental  al- 
lusions to  facts,  at  first  sight  of  the  most  insignifi- 
cant import,  but  which  on  examination  are  found 
to  have  momentous  bearing  on  those  events. 

Every  quotation  from  Josephus,  Tacitus,  or 
Suetonius,  every  fresh  archaeological  exploration 
in  Palestine,  Asia  Minor,  or  Greece,  only  serves 
to  illustrate  the  minute  accuracy  with  which  their 
titles  are  given  to  Roman  procurators  and  pro- 
consuls, Greek  "politarchs"  and  Asiatic  sediles, 
and  to  demonstrate  the  fidelity  with  which  dual 
systems  of  government,  of  military  forces,  of  cap- 
ital punishment,  of  language,  and  of  religious  life 
are  described  as  blended  together  and  coexisting 
side  by  side,  at  the  only  period  when  that  coexist- 
ence was  possible,  among  the  strangest  of  all 
strange  people,  the  Jewish  nation,  whether  living 
in  its  own  land  or  scattered  throughout  the  Ro- 
man Empire. 

When  we  find  these  numberless  incidental  al- 
lusions receiving  such  striking  and  unexpected 
confirmation  we  are  placed  in  possession  of  an- 
other link  in  the  chain  of  evidence  which  con- 
vinces us  of  the  reality  of  the  historical  founda- 
tion on  which  Christianity  rests  and  the  truth  of 
the  gospel  story. 


66  HISTORICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 

That  story  is  in  its  outline  attested  by  classical 
authors  of  repute,  and  this  attestation  remains  cer- 
tain and  indisputable,  even  supposing  the  New 
Testament  had  never  been  written  at  all !  We 
must  destroy  the  "Annals"  of  Tacitus,  the 
"L,ives"  of  Suetonius,  the  "Letters"  of  Pliny, 
if  we  wish  to  get  rid  of  their  testimony  that  in  the 
reign  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius  one  called  Christ 
existed;*  that  Judaea  was  the  place  of  his  teach- 
ing; that  he  was  put  to  death  at  the  command  of 
Pontius  Pilate;*  that  in  spite  of  his  death  his 
doctrines  rapidly  spread  throughout  the  Roman 
world;*  that  they  attracted  a  vast  number  of  con- 
verts; that,  in  consequence,  the  ancient  sacrificial 
system  gradually  disappeared;  that  the  Christians 
worshipped  Christ  as  a  God,t  and  for  his  sake  suf- 
fered cruel  persecution.  J 

But  what  fact  is  more  miraculous  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  word  than  this,  that  the  three  short 
years  of  the  public  life  of  Him  whose  career  was 
thus  cut  short  by  a  cruel  and  infamous  death 
should  have  sent  forth  an  influence  which  has 
changed  the  face  of  the  Western  world,  and  that 
his  personality  should  be  at  this  moment  the  most 
potent  force  in  the  present  age  ? 

Is  it  possible  to  believe  that  the  narrative  of 

•  Tac,  "Ann.,"  15:44.         f  Pliny's  "Letter  to  Trajan,"  10:97. 
t  Tac.,  "Ann!,"  15:44;   Suet.,  "Neron.,"  16. 


THE   NEW  TESTAMENT  SCRIPTURES.  67 

his  life,  death,  resurrection,  and. ascension,  and  of 
the  foundation  of  his  church,  which  at  this  mo- 
ment notoriously  exists,  could  have  been  described 
by  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  with  a 
wealth  of  incidental  allusions  to  the  most  compli- 
cated political  and  historical  facts,  attested  in 
many  of  the  minutest  particulars  alike  by  classi- 
cal historians  and  by  monumental  and  numis- 
matic inscriptions,  and  at  the  same  time  be  un- 
true ?     Is  this  conceivable  ? 

There  can  be  but  one  answer  to  the  question. 
Once  grant  that  "  the  signs  "*  which  our  Lord  is 
said  to  have  ' '  wrought ' '  he  did  truly  perform 
"in  the  presence  of  his  disciples,"  and  that  he  is 
"the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,"*  and  we  have  a 
consistent  explanation  of  the  records  and  of  the 
divine  Person  whose  life  and  ministry  the  evan- 
gelists portray.  On  any  other  supposition  the  ex- 
istence of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  thus 
singularly  confirmed  from  so  many  unexpected 
quarters,  presents  us  with  a  literary  phenomenon 
unparalleled  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

*  John  20:30,  31. 


THE 

CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS 

A  RELIGIOUS  STUDY. 

BY 

REY.  HENRI  MEYER,  D.  D. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  TRACT. 


The  tract  presumes  a  widespread  interest  in  the 
character  and  life  of  Jesus,  and  proposes  to  answer  the 
question,  Who  is  he  ?  The  answer  is  to  be  sought  in 
our  four  Gospels. 

It  is  shown  that  Jesus  was  the  ideal  man,  that  he 
shared  our  bodily  constitution  and  our  sinless  mental 
experiences,  yet  that  he  was  perfectly  free  from  the  sin 
which  has  characterized  the  whole  race.  His  zeal,  his 
wisdom,  his  courage,  his  faithfulness,  his  compassion 
and  tenderness,  are  illustrated  from  the  Gospels.  His 
sincerity,  taken  in  connection  with  his  declarations  con- 
cerning himself,  is  held  to  establish  his  sinlessness  not 
only  in  action  but  in  heart. 

It  is  then  shown  that  Jesus,  according  to  his  own 
profession,  stood  in  a  unique  and  intimate  relation  to 
the  Father.  Not  only  his  declarations  regarding  him- 
self, but  his  discourses  and  miracles,  prove  his  divine 
authority.  He  was  the  Son  of  man,  but  he  was  also  the 
Son  of  God. 

These  conclusions  are  shown  to  lead  up  to  the  final 
assertion  of  the  tract,  that  Jesus  is  not  only  the  Hebrew 
Messiah,  but  the  Redeemer  of  mankind.  His  sufferings 
and  death  are  sacrificial  in  their  character.  The  gift  of 
the  Spirit  and  the  growth  of  the  church  are  the  pledge 
of  his  glorious  second  coming. 

The  four  Gospels  are  thus  shown  to  concur  in  set- 
ting forth  the  one  Saviour,  perfect  alike  in  humanity 
and  Deity. 

The  tract  concludes  by  representing  the  one  divine 
Saviour,  to  whom  the  Gospels  bear  witness,  as  the  true 
Friend  of  man  both  in  life  and  in  immortality. 


THE 


CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 


"  Then  they  said  unto  him,  Who  art  thou?"    John  8:25. 

Never  was  more  interest  felt  than  now  in  the 
all-important  question,  Who  and  what  was  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  ?  ' '  What  think  ye  of  Christ  ?' '  was 
an  inquiry  propounded  during  his  earthly  minis- 
try, and  an  inquiry  to  which  various  and  conflict- 
ing answers  were  given.  But  as  there  was  only 
one  satisfactory  answer  given  at  that  time,  so  is  it 
found  to-day  that  every  reply  inconsistent  with 
the  declarations  of  Jesus  himself  fails  to  endure 
the  test  of  a  candid  and  careful  examination.  It 
is.  characteristic  of  the  time  in  which  we  live  that 
thoughtful  persons  not  only  inquire  with  interest 
concerning  Christ,  but  that  they  speak  of  him  in 
terms  which  betoken  respect.  Even  unbelievers 
acknowledge  the  claims  of  our  L,ord  Jesus  to  their 

*  Abridged  from  "  Le  Christ  des  Evangiles,"  Etude  Religieuse 
par  H.  Meyer,  D.  D.,  Paris,  1880.  By  the  Rev.  J.  Radford  Thom- 
son, M.  A. 


72  THE   CHRIST   OF  THE   GOSPELS. 

best  attention  and  consideration.  There  is  a  wide- 
spread conviction  among  men  of  intelligence  that 
some  reasonable  explanation  of  the  facts  in  which 
Christianity  originated  ought  to  be  sought  and  if 
possible  attained.  The  problem  has  tended  more 
and  more  to  centre  in  the  person  and  the  earthly 
career  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

The  question,  What  are  we  to  believe  con- 
cerning Jesus  ?  is  then  a  question  not  to  be  neg- 
lected or  set  aside.  But  where  shall  we  seek  the 
answer  ?  Inquirers  have  too  often  given  attention 
chiefly  to  the  teaching  of  theologians,  to  the  tra- 
ditions current  among  Christians,  which  may  be 
correct,  but  which  may  also  in  some  measure  be 
incorrect.  And  they  have  too  often  been  influ- 
enced, if  not  determined,  in  the  conclusion  to 
which  they  have  come  by  their  own  imagina- 
tions, prepossessions,  or  prejudices.  Now  the 
proper  method  by  which  it  becomes  us  to  seek 
the  true  answer  to  the  question  proposed  is  the 
method  of  historical  inquiry.  We  wish  to  know 
the  facts — the*  truth.  We  should  therefore  apply 
ourselves  to  the  study  of  the  four  Gospels,  which 
we  have  good  reason  for  regarding  as  containing 
a  credible  account  of  Jesus,  based  upon  the  au- 
thority of  his  contemporaries.  The  words  of 
Jesus  himself,  as  recorded  in  these  documents, 
must  be  deserving  of  very  special  consideration. 


THE   CHRIST  OF  THE   GOSPELS.  73 


JESUS  THE  PERFECT  SON  OF  MAN. 

What  is  the  impression  concerning  the  char- 
acter and  mission  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  which  the 
student  receives  from  a  careful  perusal  of  the  sev- 
eral records  of  his  life  ?  It  is  noticeable  that  he 
habitually  spoke  of  himself  as  "the  Son  of  Man." 
What  can  we  understand  from  this  but  that  he 
was  not  only  partaker  of  our  nature,  and  ' '  the 
second  Adam,"  but  that  he  consciously  realized 
the  ideal  of  human  nature  and  life  ? 

How  thoroughly  our  Lord  Jesus  participated 
in  the  lot  of  humanity!  He  occupied  a  lowly  sta- 
tion; as  he  himself  on  one  occasion  declared,  he 
"had  not  where  to  lay  his  head."  Matt.  8  :  20. 
He  was  known  as  a  friend  of  the  poor  and  even 
of  the  despised.  Matt.  11  :  19.  Jesus  shared  the 
sinless  infirmities  of  our  bodily  nature.  It  is  ex- 
pressly recorded  that  after  the  temptation  he  hun- 
gered. Matt.  4:2.  At  the  well  of  Sychar  he 
thirsted,  and  asked  the  Samaritan  woman  to  give 
him  to  drink.  John  4  :  6,  7.  On  one  occasion  he 
was  crossing  the  Lake  of  Galilee  in  a  boat,  and, 
overcome  by  weariness,  he  fell  asleep  in  the  stern 
of  the  vessel,  and  slept  amid  the  raging  storm  that 
arose  so  that  he  had  to  be  awakened.     Mark  4  :  38. 


74  THE   CHRIST   OF   THE   GOSPELS. 

Jesus  knew  also  by  his  own  experience  the 
mental  emotions  which  are  distinctive  of  our  hu- 
man nature.  He  was  capable  of  wonder  and  as- 
tonishment; he  marvelled  at  the  unbelief  of  some 
among:  his  hearers.  Sometimes  he  was  troubled 
in  spirit.  John  12:27;  13:21.  There  were  occa- 
sions when  his  righteous  soul  was  filled  with  a 
holy  indignation  because  of  the  sinful  conduct  of 
the  professedly  religious.  Matt.  23;  Mark  3:5. 
He  wept  tears  of  sorrow  and  sympathy,  both  in 
the  presence  of  human  calamity  and  grief,  John 
11  :35;  Matt.  20  :34,  and  in  the  prospect  of  ap- 
proaching retribution  about  to  overtake  the  neg- 
ligent and  irreligious.  How  Christ's  soul  was 
affected  by  the  events  and  the  experience  of  hu- 
man life,  and  by  the  special  trials  which  he  passed 
through,  is  manifest  from  the  narratives  of  the 
evangelists.  He  was  no  stranger  to  spiritual  con- 
flict, for  at  the  commencement  of  his  ministry  he 
encountered  in  solitude  the  assaults  of  the  tempt- 
er, Matt.  4:1-11;  Mark  1  :  13,  and  on  the  eve  of 
his  passion  he  endured  the  agonies  of  Gethsemane. 
Matt.  26  :  36-46.  The  deepest  woe  of  which  our 
nature  is  capable  was  transcended  by  the  Saviour's 
anguish  upon  the  cross,  when  the  bitter  cry  was 
wrung  from  him,  "My  God,  my  God,  why  hast 
thou  forsaken  me?"  Matt.  27:46.  There  was 
in  Jesus  nothing  of  the  stoic's  disdain  of  suffering. 


THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  75 

He  was  the  ' '  man  of  sorrows, "a  true  member  of 
this  suffering  humanity,  a  brother  to  all  men. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  life,  so  truly  hu- 
man, that  Jesus  realized  the  moral  ideal  of  hu- 
manity. 

But  while  he  shared  our  human  lot,  our  human 
feelings,  the  Lord  Christ  had  no  part  in  our  de- 
fects, our  errors,  our  falls.  This  is  abundantly 
proved  by  the  record  of  the  evangelists.  On  one 
occasion,  when  challenged  by  a  Pharisee  to  de- 
clare the  chief  commandment  of  God,  he  answered 
by  quoting  the  Old  Testament  injunction,  uThou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart. ' ' 
Matt.  22:37,38;  Mark  12:29,  30;  Luke  10:25-27. 
This  commandment  he  himself  perfectly  obeyed. 
Intimate  indeed  was  Christ's  communion  with 
God.  Prayer  was  the  atmosphere  he  breathed, 
it  was  indeed  the  soul  of  his  life,  Mark  1  135; 
Luke  3  :2i;  5  :i6;  9  :  18,  29;  22  :44;  John  n  141, 
42;  17  : 9,  20;  he  even  sometimes  passed  a  whole 
night  in  prayer.  Luke  6:12.  His  obedience  to 
the  divine  will  was  filial  and  perfect.  "  I  seek," 
said  he,  "not  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  the 
Father  which  hath  sent  me. ' '  John  5  :  30.  It 
was  his  daily  food  to  do  his  Father's  will.  John 
4  :  34.  He  could  sincerely  say,  ( '  I  love  the  Fa- 
ther, and  as  the  Father  gave  me  commandment, 
even  so  I  do."     John  14  :  31. 


76  THE   CHRIST   OF  THE   GOSPELS. 

A  being  so  holy  could  not  but  have  been  often 
wounded  to  the  heart  by  the  unbelief  and  sin  by 
which  he  was  surrounded.  His  exclamations  of 
distress  because  of  men's  perversity  and  incredu- 
lity have  been  recorded  by  his  faithful  biogra- 
phers. Matt.  17:17.  But  it  is  observable  that 
110  rebellious  feeling  ever  arose  in  his  breast  or 
found  utterance  from  his  lips.  Submission  to  the 
Father's  appointments— this  was  the  attitude  he 
maintained  all  through  his  ministry.  Matt.  4:10; 
16  :  22,  23.  And  when  that  ministry  drew  to  its 
close  in  a  manner  which  called  for  the  utmost 
fortitude,  patience,  and  resignation,  then  his  sub- 
mission found  utterance  in  the  sublime  and  pa- 
thetic cry,  "Oh,  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let 
this  cup  pass  away  from  me;  nevertheless,  not  as 
I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt."     Matt.  26  :  37-42. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  Son  of  Man 
was  insensible  to  suffering.  But  though  sensitive 
to  suffering,  he  was  not  overwhelmed  by  it ;  on 
the  contrary,  when  trials  and  afflictions  were  most 
formidable  Jesus  was  most  self-possessed.  Thus, 
when  arrested  in  the  garden  he  secured  the  safety 
of  his  disciples.  John  18  : 1-9.  When  before  the 
Jewish  council,  presided  over  by  Annas,  father-in- 
law  of  the  high  priest,  he  maintained  an  attitude 
of  calm  even  amid  insults  and  blows.  John 
18  :  19-23.     And  when  at  the  bar  of  Pilate,  the 


THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  77 

Roman  governor,  his  dignity  of  demeanor  and  of 
language  was  such  that  the  judge  was  troubled 
in  the  presence  of  the  accused.  His  independence 
and  authority  made  so  deep  an  impression  upon 
the  governor  that  he  made  several  efforts  to  re- 
lease the  guiltless  prisoner.  John  19  : 9-16.  Even 
when  on  his  way  to  the  place  of  punishment  Jesus 
thought  more  of  others  than  himself.  "Weep  not 
for  me,"  he  said  to  the  tender-hearted  women 
among  the  spectators,  "but  weep  for  yourselves 
and  for  your  children."  Luke  23:28,  31.  We 
cannot  but  remark  in  him  a  habitual  disposition 
of  perfect  submission  to  the  will  of  his  Father.  In 
the  midst  of  unequalled  sorrows  he  remained  mas- 
ter of  his  heart,  his  thoughts,  his  words. 

Jesus  throughout  his  ministry  displayed  a  sin- 
gular zeal  for  the  glory  of  God,  a  zeal  which  was 
manifested  by  acts  of  remarkable  boldness,  such, 
for  instance,  as  the  authoritative  cleansing  of  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem.  There  is  moral  majesty  in 
the  picture  which  the  evangelists  present  of  the 
Son  of  Man  expelling  the  covetous  traders  from 
his  Father's  house.  John  2:16;  Matt.  21:12,  13. 
But  zealous  as  Christ  was,  never  did  his  zeal  de- 
generate into  fanaticism.  On  the  contrary,  he 
most  carefully  avoided  any  actions  which  might 
tend  to  cut  short  his  career  of  service  by  betray- 
ing him  into  the  hands  of  his  foes  before  the  time 


78  THE   CHRIST   OF  THE   GOSPELS. 

arrived  appointed  by  divine  Wisdom  for  his  offer- 
ing up.  During  the  first  thirty  years  of  his  life 
Jesus  remained  in  seclusion  and  silence.  Even 
after  his  baptism  he  withdrew  for  forty  days  into 
the  solitude  of  the  wilderness.  Matt.  4:1,  2; 
Mark  1:135  Luke  4:1,  2.  So  prolonged  and  seri- 
ous was  the  preparation  through  which  our  L,ord 
passed  with  a  view  to  his  public  ministry. 

The  wisdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  manifest  in 
every  step  he  took  in  fulfilling  his  public  minis- 
try. After  a  short  period  of  public  teaching  in 
Galilee,  John  1:43;  2:11,  12,  he  repaired  to  Jeru- 
salem, where  he  became  known  as  a  religious 
reformer.  John  2:18-20.  But,  meeting  with 
opposition,  he  withdrew  into  retirement  in  a  rural 
part  of  Judaea,  where  his  unobtrusive  but  divine- 
ly-effective ministry  secured  him  many  disciples. 
John  3:22.  It  was  when  the  enmity  and  ill-will 
of  the  Pharisees,  John  4:1,  2,  were  excited  by  his 
success  that  he  judged  it  prudent  to  betake  him- 
self to  Galilee,  and  to  make  that  province,  remote 
as  it  was  from  the  leaders  of  the  Jewish  state,  the 
chief  scene  of  his  holy  and  beneficent  labors. 
John  4:3,  43-46,  54. 

Even  in  the  comparative  seclusion  of  Galilee 
Jesus  avoided  as  far  as  possible  publicity  and 
fame,  Matt.  8:4,  and  this  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
excite  questionings  and  misgivings  in  the  mind 


THE   CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  79 

of  John  the  Baptist,  who  appears  to  have  ex- 
pected from  the  Messiah  a  more  open  display  of 
power.  Matt.  11:2-6.  On  one  occasion  when 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  multitude  was  stirred  up 
because  of  his  wonderful  works,  and  when  they 
would  fain  have  made  him  king,  Jesus  at  once 
checked  the  manifestation  by  withdrawing  from 
his  admirers  and  retiring  to  the  mountain  soli- 
tudes. John  6:14,  I5-  He  even  forbade  his  dis- 
ciples as  yet  to  tell  any  one  that  he  was  Christ, 
lest  the  excitement  of  the  people  should  be  re- 
newed. Matt.  16:20;  Mark  8:30;  L,uke  9:21. 
A  remarkable  instance  of  the  wisdom  of  Jesus  is 
recorded  by  the  evangelist  John,  who  tells  us  that 
upon  the  occasion  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  the 
brethren  of  Jesus  were  very  anxious  that  he  should 
go  up  to  the  metropolis  and  before  the  assembled 
thousands  declare  himself  to  be  the  Messiah,  but 
who  records  also  that  Jesus  declined  to  accede  to 
their  request,  since  he  knew  that  his  hour  was  not 
yet  come.  John  7:6-8.  When,  however,  his 
time  approached  he  acted  otherwise.  The  enthu- 
siasm of  the  Galileans  seems  to  have  cooled  when 
they  found  that  he  was  not  likely  to  realize  their 
hopes  of  a  political  Messiah.  John  6:66.  Jesus 
went  up  to  Jerusalem  and  there  fulfilled  his  latest, 
most  solemn,  and  most  powerful  ministry.  He 
still  evaded  the  malicious  efforts  of  his  foes  to  en- 


80  THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 

trap  and  capture  him.  Matt.  19:3-9;  22:15-46. 
And  it  was  only  when  his  active  ministry  was  all 
but  finished,  and  when  the  period  of  humiliation 
and  suffering  was  felt  by  him  to  be  at  hand,  that 
Jesus  publicly  accepted  the  homage  of  the  people, 
and  in  the  triumphal  entry  consented  to  receive 
the  honors  and  the  designations  which  were  his 
rightful  due.     John  12:12-19. 

The  wisdom  and  discretion  of  Jesus  are  appa- 
rent in  the  manner  in  which  he  dealt  with  the  dif- 
ferent classes  of  persons  with  whom  he  came  into 
contact,  and  especially  in  the  manner  in  which 
he  adapted  his  instructions  to  the  varying  charac- 
ter and  needs  of  his  hearers.  His  insight  pene- 
trated every  mind,  and  he  knew  well  by  what 
means  to  subdue  the  souls  of  men  and  bring  them 
into  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  God.  He  ever  at- 
tacked with  boldness  the  pride,  the  illusions,  the 
worldly  attachments  which  he  detected  in  those 
with  whom  he  conversed.  What  illustrations  of 
this  marvellous  insight  and  fidelity  have  we  in 
Christ's  recorded  conversations  with  Nicodemus, 
John  2>'3i  and  again  with  the  rich  young  ruler 
who  aspired  to  the  eternal  life!  Matt.  19:21. 
He  could  speak  faithfully,  almost  sternly;  as,  for 
example,  when  he  commanded  that  the  dead 
should  be  left  to  bury  their  dead,  Luke  9:60;  but 
he  could  speak  also  with  condescension  and  gen- 


THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  8 1 

tleness  to  those  who  needed  instruction  and  en- 
couragement. The  interview  with  the  woman  of 
Samaria  is  a  marvellous  instance  of  the  way  in 
which  Jesus  would  deal  with  an  intelligent  and 
candid  but,  at  the  same  time,  ignorant  and  sin- 
ful nature.  John  4:1-30.  No  wonder  that  she 
was  prompted  to  inquire,  "Is  not  this  the 
Christ?" 

Jesus  has  been  termed  "The  great  Teacher," 
and  however  inadequate  such  a  designation  may 
be,  its  justice  is  unquestionable.  Original,  stri- 
king, and  varied  were  the  forms  in  which  he  pre- 
sented truth  to  the  minds  of  men.  Sometimes  he 
expanded  his  thoughts  in  eloquent  discourses,  as 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Matt.  5-7.  Some- 
times he  condensed  his  thoughts  into  terse  and 
even  paradoxical  sentences.  Matt.  6:24;  19:24, 
30;  22:14.  Sometimes  his  teaching  took  the 
shape  of  an  enigma,  Matt.  13:12;  24:28;  Luke 
6:33-36  ;  John  3: 14;  more  often  that  of  a  parable. 
Matt.  13:1-50;  22:1-14;  25;  Luke  10:30-37;  15; 
John  10: 1-5.  He  drew  his  illustrations  from  the 
scenes  of  nature,  Matt.  6:25-32;  13:1-9;  Luke 
12:54-57;  John  4  :  35-38;  from  the  incidents  of 
daily  life,  Matt.  9:14-17;  11:16-19;  20:1-16; 
Mark  1  :i7;  from  the  records  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, Matt.  12  13-5;  Luke  4:24-30;  John  6:26- 
58.     He  so   expressed  his   divine   thoughts   that 

6 


82  THE   CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 

they  could  not  be  forgotten;  and  as  a  matter  of 
fact  many  of  these  precious  utterances  have  been 
put  upon  record  by  his  disciples  and  have  en- 
riched all  subsequent  generations  with  their  price- 
less spiritual  wealth. 

The  discreetness  and  circumspection  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  were  signally  manifested  in  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  eluded  the  snares  which  were 
laid  for  him  by  his  crafty  foes.  In  answering  the 
captious  questions  by  which  they  sought  to  en- 
trap him  he  always  found  an  opportunity  of  bring- 
ing into  prominence  some  great  and  fruitful  truth. 
Thus  when  they  sought  either  to  imperil  his  in- 
fluence over  the  Jews  or  to  bring  him  into  dis- 
favor with  the  Roman  authorities,  by  their  fa- 
mous question  as  to  the  lawfulness  of  paying  trib- 
ute, Jesus  not  only  avoided  the  snare,  but  in  his 
reply  laid  down  a  great  practical  principle  for  the 
guidance  of  his  followers  in  all  time.  Matt. 
22:15-22.  And  when  the  Sadducees  plied  him 
with  their  foolish  question  concerning  the  woman 
who  married  seven  brothers  in  succession,  and  thus 
endeavored  to  discredit  the  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection, Jesus  answered  them  in  language  which 
is  enshrined  in  the  heart  of  Christendom:  "God 
is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living:  for 
all  live  unto  him."     Luke  20:  34-38. 

There  was  no  weakness  in  the  wise  and  care- 


THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  83 

ful  circumspection  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  He  never 
yielded  to  the  impulse  of  the  prejudices  or  pas- 
sions which  in  his  circumstances  would  have 
mastered  others.  Nor  did  he  ever  yield  to  timidi- 
ty. His  fearlessness  was  evident  in  his  return  to 
Judaea  upon  receiving  tidings  of  Lazarus'  illness. 
He  knew  the  danger  involved  in  visiting  Betha- 
ny; but  this  did  not  deter  him  from  carrying  out 
•his  purposes  of  mercy.  John  11:6-10.  The 
question  with  him  was  not,  Is  the  path  difficult 
or  perilous  ?  but,  Is  it  the  path  of  duty,  the  path 
of  obedience  to  God  ? 

With  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  Jesus  would 
have  his  disciples  conjoin  the  harmlessness  and 
simplicity  of  the  dove.  Matt.  10:16.  On  many 
occasions  he  commended — what  he  ever  exempli- 
fied— transparency  and  truthfulness  of  character 
and  speech.  Matt.  5:37;  11:25;  Luke  18:17. 
When  he  himself  endured  pain  and  grief,  he  did 
not  dissimulate.  John  11:33-35;  12:27;  13:21. 
Even  in  the  agony  of  Gethsemane  Jesus  sought 
with  beautiful  frankness  the  solace  of  his  disci- 
ples' sympathy.  Matt.  26:38.  There  was  in  him 
no  affectation ;  what  he  was,  -that  he  appeared  to 
be. 

Discreet  as  was  Christ's  conduct,  he  acted 
with  a  vigorous  sincerity.  Wherever  he  saw  sin 
he  stigmatized  and   rebuked  it  with  inexorable 


84  THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 

frankness;  nor  did  he  shrink  from  threatening 
hardened  and  impenitent  sinners  with  the  doom 
of  " outer  darkness."  Matt.  7:13;  8:12;  22:13; 
25:30.  Hypocrisy  was,  of  all  sins,  that  which 
Jesus  most  hated;  never  has  stronger,  more  trench- 
ant language  come  from  human  lips  than  the 
language  in  which  he  denounced  the  hollow  for- 
mality, the  unspiritual  ceremonialism,  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  of  his  day,  Matt.  23:23-28, 
and  most  faithful  and  earnest  were  his  warnings 
against  a  religion  consisting  in  words  and  in  at- 
titudes and  lacking  in  sincerity  and  genuine  god- 
liness.    Matt.  6:1-6,  16-18. 

With  severity  in  condemning  sin  Jesus  con- 
joined the  tenderest  charity  for  men.  While  he 
opposed  himself  to  moral  evil  in  every  form,  he 
did  this  out  of  pity  for  the  sinful  race  whose  na- 
ture he  had  deigned  to  assume.  The  love  which 
was  preeminent  in  the  Son  of  Man  thrills  even  in 
some  of  the  severest  of  his  words.  How  marvel- 
lously is  this  combination  apparent  in  the  lan- 
guage in  which  Jesus  mourned  over  the  sin,  the 
impenitence,  and  the  approaching  doom  of  the 
highly-favored  but  unfaithful  city  which  was  on 
the  point  of  rejecting  him  !  "  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusa- 
lem, which  killeth  the  prophets  and  stoneth 
them  that  are  sent  unto  her;  how  often  would  I 
have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a 


THE  CHRIST  OK  THE  GOSPELS.  85 

hen  ga there th  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and 
yewouldnot!"  Matt.  23:  37,  38;  Luke  13:34,  35. 
In  fact,  Jesus  loved  all  mankind,  and  he  not 
only  loved  the  race,  he  loved  every  particular 
human  being.  He  cared  for  little  children,  and 
even  identified  himself  with  them;  to  receive  a 
little  child  in  his  name  was  to  receive  himself. 
Matt.  18:5.  When  he  folded  the  babes  in  his 
arms  he  took  occasion  to  enjoin  upon  all  men 
childlikeuess  of  character  as  the  indispensable 
condition  of  entrance  into  his  spiritual  kingdom. 
Luke  18:16,  17.  The  poor  were  objects  of  his 
gracious  notice  and  affection.  The  touching  in- 
cident of  "  the  widow's  mite"  illustrates  his  con- 
sideration for  the  lowly  and  indigent.  Luke  21:3, 
4.  The  afflicted,  the  humble,  the  oppressed  were 
regarded  by  Jesus  with  peculiar  kindness  and 
commiseration.  Matt.  15:  21-28;  John  4:47-50; 
9:6,  7.  Nor  did  he  disclaim  the  sinful,  the  de- 
based, the  despised;  such,  when  they  evinced  con- 
trition and  true  penitence,  were  welcomed  to  his 
society  and  heard  from  his  gracious  lips  words  of 
forgiveness  and  of  encouragement.  UI,"  said 
the  divine  Physician  of  souls,  "I  am  not  come 
to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners,  to  repentance." 
Matt.  9:12,  13;  Mark  2:17;  Luke  5:31,  32.  In 
accordance  with  his  language  was  his  conduct. 
When  he  pardoned  the  sinful  woman  who  came 


86  THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 

to  him  as  he  sat  at  meat  in  the  house  of  Simon, 
Luke  7:36-50;  when  he  became  the  guest  of 
Zacchceus,  the  chief  of  the  publicans,  Luke 
19:4-10;  on  such  occasions  he  proved  his  com- 
passion for  these  whom  religious  formalists  were 
too  ready  to  despise.  And  yet  at  the  very  time 
that  he  showed  mercy  to  the  sinner  Jesus  cen- 
sured and  condemned  the  sin.  No  more  notable 
case  of  this  kind  is  recorded  than  that  of  the  wo- 
man taken  in  adultery,  to  whom  the  holy  Saviour 
addressed  those  memorable  words:  "Neither  do 
I  condemn  thee;  go,  and  sin  no  more."  John 
8:6-11. 

While  he  laid  stress  upon  the  religion  of  the 
heart  and  upon  the  great  duties  of  morality,  our 
Lord  treated  with  contempt  those  rigid  precepts, 
those  ceremonial  requirements,  which  were  too 
often  in  his  time,  as  indeed  in  all  times,  substi- 
tuted for  genuine  piety  and  goodness.  Matt. 
23:13;  Mark  7:15,  21-23.  The  Jewish  restric- 
tions which  had  gathered  round  the  Sabbath 
were  shown  by  him  to  be  inconsistent  with  the 
true  spirit  of  the  Fourth  Commandment,  and  ac- 
cordingly with  that  Christian  liberty  which  Jesus 
instituted  in  his  church.  Matt.  12:1-8;  Mark 
2:23-28;  Luke  6: 1-5.  He  pitied  those  who  were 
taught  by  the  Pharisees  to  aim  at  working  out  a 
religious  position,  a  meritorious  righteousness,  by 


THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  87 

laborious  efforts  to  attain  a  standard  of  ritual, 
ceremonial  perfection,  and  he  compassionately 
invited  all  such  to  take  in  preference  his  mild 
yoke  and  to  bear  his  easy  burden,  that  so  doing 
they  might  find  rest  unto  their  souls.  Matt. 
11:28-30. 

Towards  the  chosen  twelve  Jesus  cherished 
feelings  of  warm  friendship,  which  were  not 
chilled  by  their  many  errors  and  imperfections. 
He  even  on  a  very  solemn  occasion  washed  their 
feet  in  order  to  impart  to  them  more  effectively 
than  by  words  the  supreme  lesson  of  humility. 
John  13:1-17.  His  tender  heart  was  pained  by 
the  thought  that  one  of  his  own  companions  and 
disciples  wTould  betray  him  to  his  foes.  John 
6:71;  13:21.  We  are  able  to  judge  of  his  feelings 
towards  the  twelve  from  his  last  quiet,  consola- 
tory, and  encouraging  discourse,  which  has  been 
recorded  by  John  with  unusual  fulness,  and  which 
gives  us  a  delightful  insight  into  the  sympathy 
and  kindness  which  possessed  the  Master's  soul 
and  animated  his  intercourse  with  his  beloved 
ones.  John  15:12-15.  And  his  High  Priestly 
prayer  proves  how  deep  was  his  concern  for  the 
true  welfare  of  these  chosen  few,  for  their  preser- 
vation and  their  moral  perfection.     John  17. 

Such  a  review  as  that  now  taken  of  the  earth- 
ly life  and  ministry  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  leads  to 


88  THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 

the  conclusion  that  in  liim  the  moral  ideal  of  hu- 
manity was  realized.  As  far  as  the  records  enable 
us  to  judge,  we  must  pronounce  him  the  perfect 
man:  perfect  in  purity,  in  wisdom,  in  moral  en- 
ergy, in  sympathy,  benevolence,  and  love  to 
man. 

But  an  objection  may  be  urged  which  deserves 
our  consideration.  The  Gospels — say  the  unbe- 
lievers— do  not  relate  all  that  passed  in  the  in- 
most heart  of  Jesus;  and  we  have  no  right  to 
presume  that  throughout  his  life  Jesus  was  free 
from  every  taint  and  stain  of  sin.  This  specious 
objection,  however,  admits  of  a  conclusive  an- 
swer. 

All  that  we  know  of  Jesus,  of  his  upright 
character,  his  perfect  insight,  constrains  us  to 
believe  that  he  knew  himself,  that  he  is  a  credi- 
ble witness  to  his  own  moral  standing.  Now 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  deemed  himself  absolutely  free 
from  sin. 

While  all  other  servants  of  God,  before  and 
after  Christ,  have  without  exception  humbled 
themselves  before  God  on  account  of  their  trans- 
gressions of  the  divine  law,  Psa.  51;  Rom.  7:14- 
25;  1  Tim.  1:15;  Jas.  3:2;  1  John  1:8-10,  not 
one  word  is  recorded  to  have  escaped  the  lips  of 
Jesus  expressive  of  any  consciousness  of  sin,  of 
any  regret  for  fault  committed,  for  duty  neglected. 


THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  89 

He  required  repentance  and  conversion  from 
others,  but  he  felt  no  necessity  on  his  own  part 
for  such  experiences.  Matt.  4:17;  Mark  1:155 
Luke  13: 1-5.  He  continually  warned  his  audi- 
tors— even  his  personal  followers — of  the  possi- 
bility of  final  condemnation  and  rejection  from 
the  kingdom  of  God.  Matt.  5:20;  10:28;  18:35. 
But  so  far  was  he  from  imagining  the  possibility 
of  his  own  exclusion  from  that  kingdom  that  he 
always  represented  himself  as  possessing  the  pow- 
er of  admission  and  of  rejection.  Concerning  the 
fate  of  hypocrites  he  said,  "  Then  will  I  profess 
unto  them,  I  never  knew  you;  depart  from  me, 
ye  that  work  iniquity."     Matt.  7:  21-23. 

Again  and  again  in  the  Gospels  recurs  this 
contrast  between  sinful  men  and  the  sinless  Son 
of  Man.  His  disciples  were  taught  to  put  up  a 
daily  prayer  for  pardon,  Luke  11:4;  he  claimed 
for  himself  the  right  to  forgive  sins.  Matt.  9:6; 
Mark  2:10;  Luke  5:24.  He  reminded  his  hear- 
ers of  their  sinfulness  in  God's  sight,  but  affirmed 
that  he  did  always  those  things  that  pleased  God. 
John  8:29.  "For  righteousness'  sake,"  and 
"For  my  sake,"  were  with  Christ  equivalent 
and  convertible  expressions.  Matt.  5:10,  n. 
He  came  to  fulfil  the  law,  which  no  sinful  man 
had  done  or  could  do.  Matt.  5: 17.  He  claimed 
faultlessness  in  the  sight  of  his  Father:    "I  do 


Q0  THE   CHRIST  OF  THE   GOSPELS. 

always  the  things  that  are  pleasing  to  Him." 
John  8:29.  He  boldly  appealed  even  to  his 
enemies,  "Which  of  yon  convinceth  me  of  sin?" 
John  8:46.  Who  but  Jesus  could  have  taken  a 
stand  like  this?  He  was  indeed  hated,  but  it 
was  "without  cause."  John  15:25.  In  the 
interview  with  the  rich  young  ruler  Jesus  impli- 
citly accepted  as  his  due-  the  title  by  which  he 
was  addressed — though  with  an  insufficient  un- 
derstanding of  its  import — when  he  was  called 
"Good  Master."  Mark  10:18.  Could  he  have 
claimed,  as  he  did,  the  first  place  in  his  disciples' 
hearts,  had  he  not  been  conscious  of  that  perfect 
sinlessness  which  alone  could  give  him  a  just 
right  to  a  position  quite  unique? 

But  Jesus  actually  and  explicitly  asserted  his 
moral  perfection,  and  presented  himself  to  his 
disciples  as  the  faultless  model  for  their  imita- 
tion. Who  but  Jesus  could  have  ventured  to  ad- 
dress to  others  language  such  as  this:  "If  ye  keep 
my  commandments  ye  shall  abide  in  my  love, 
even  as  I  have  kept  my  Father's  commandments 
and  abide  in  his  love."     John  15  :  10. 

Jesus  always  taught  his  disciples  that  it  would 
be  enough  for  them  to  resemble  their  Master, 
Matt.  10  :  25  ;  John  13:16;  teaching  which  im- 
plied the  perfection  of  his  character  and  life.  He 
placed  perfection  in  moral  similarity  to  the  Fa- 


THE   CHRIST  OF   THE   GOSPELS.  91 

ther,  Matt.  5  148;  and  this  perfection  he  claimed 
himself  to  have  attained. 

Now  no  reasonable  person  will  maintain  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  an  impostor,  who,  knowing 
himself  to  be  faulty  and  imperfect,  deliberately 
deceived  his  disciples  by  representing  himself  to 
be  without  sin.  And  it  is  as  incredible  that  he 
should  himself  have  been  under  an  illusion  as  to 
his  own  moral  excellence. 

It  is  impossible  that  the  wisest  of  beings,  the 
L,ight  of  all  ages,  should  be  so  mistaken  regard- 
ing himself;  that  Jesus  should  have  had  perfect 
intelligence  of  moral  truth,  and  should  yet  have 
deceived  himself  as  to  his  own  character;  that  he 
should  have,  like  ourselves,  carried  evil  with  him 
in  his  heart,  and  yet  should  never  have  discerned 
it,  and  should  have  formed  a  judgment  of  himself 
entirely  false  and  unjust. 

Certainly  we  do  not  know  all  that  passed  in 
the  mind  of  the  Lord  Jesus;  this  is  not  possible  to 
us.  But  this  we  do  know,  that  he  was  perfectly 
aware  of  his  own  moral  character  and  life,  and 
that  we  are  justified  in  believing  his  declaration 
that  he  was  free  from  sin  and  perfect  in  holiness, 
that  no  sin  ever  soiled  his  heart,  and  that  he 
alone,  in  the  midst  of  our  fallen  humanity,  was 
the  one  normal,  ideal,  and  perfect  man.  John 
6  :68,  69;  John  7  :  18. 


92  THE   CHRIST   OF  THE   GOSPELS. 

II. 
JESUS  THE   SON   OK  GOD. 

WE  have  hitherto  been  considering  the  human 
side  of  Jesus'  character  and  life.  He  was  the  sin- 
less Son  of  Man.  We  have  now  to  show  that  be- 
tween Jesns  and  God  there  existed  a  relation  alto- 
gether unique. 

When  a  boy  of  twelve  years  old  Jesus  used 
most  remarkable  language  in  explaining  to  his 
parents  his  detention  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem : 
"  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's 
business?"  Luke  2  :  49.  This  language  antici- 
pated that  of  his  future  ministry;  it  was  as  his 
Father  that  Jesus  ever  spoke  of  God.  Matt. 
7:21;  12:50;  18:35;  26:53;  John  2:16;  5:17; 
10  :  29.  On  many  occasions,  as  we  learn  from  the 
record  of  the  New  Testament,  he  expressed  his 
consciousness  of  the  most  intimate  relation  with 
the  Eternal.  "My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and 
I  work. "  u  What  things  soever  the  Father  doeth, 
these  the  Son  also  doeth  in  like  manner."  uThe 
Father  loveth  the  Son."  John  5:17, 19,  20.  Such 
passages  are  sufficient  evidence  of  the  terms  upon 
which  Jesus  conceived  himself  to  stand  towards 
the  Father.  When  Simon  Peter  acknowledged 
him   to   be  uthe  Christ,   the  Son  of  the  living 


THE  CHRIST  OF  THE)  GOSPELS.  93 

God,"  Matt.  1 6  :  13-17,  his  confession  was  accept- 
ed and  approved.  And  before  Caiaphas  Jesus 
made  no  secret  of  his  unique  relation  to  the  L,ord 
of  all.     Matt.  26  :  62-64. 

We  meet,  not  only  in  John's  Gospel,  but  in  the 
other  Gospels  also,  with  proofs  of  our  Lord's  as- 
sumption of  divine  dignity.  Thus  Matthew  and 
Ivuke  have  recorded  this  sublime  and  conclusive 
utterance  which  came  from  Jesus'  lips:  "All 
things  have  been  delivered  unto  me  of  my  Fa- 
ther: and  no  one  kuoweth  the  Son  save  the  Fa- 
ther: neither  doth  any  know  the  Father  save  the 
Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  willeth  to 
reveal  him."  Matt,  n  :  25-27;  L,uke  10  :2i,  22. 
There  was  a  holy  familiarity  in  the  manner  in 
which  Jesus  spoke  of  God  which  was  becoming  in 
him,  but  which  would  not  have  been  becoming  in 
any  other.  These  are  instances:  "I  and  my  Fa- 
ther are  one,"  John  10:30;  "  The  Father  is  great- 
er than  I,"  John  14  :  28;  "  If  a  man  love  me,  he 
will  keep  my  word,  and  my  Father  will  love  him, 
and  we  will  come  unto  him  and  make  our  abode 
with  him."  John  14:23.  It  was  such  expres- 
sions as  these  which  suggested  the  profound  re- 
mark of  Pascal,  "that  Jesus  spoke  so  simply  of 
the  greatest  things,  and  even  of  divine  things, 
that  we  feel  that  he  must  have  been  familiar  and 
at  home  with  them." 


94  THE   CHRIST  OF   THE   GOSPELS. 

It  must  further  be  observed  that  this  filial  rela- 
tion towards  God,  of  which  Jesus  was  conscious, 
did  not  begin  in  this  earthly  life.  Again  and 
again  he  affirmed  that  heaven  was  his  proper  and 
native  country.  John  3  :  13;  6  :  33,  50,  51.  He 
knew  whence  he  came  and  whither  he  went. 
John  8  :  14.  There  was  One  who  had  sent  him 
whom  the  Jews  knew  not.  John  7  :  28,  29.  The 
Father  had  sanctified  him  and  had  sent  him  into 
the  world.  John  10  :  36.  He  came  from  the  Fa- 
ther, and  to  the  Father  he  returned.  John  16  :  28. 
In  reply  to  some  who  were  offended  with  him  for 
saying  that  he  was  "  the  bread  which  came  down 
from  heaven,"  Jesus  asked  them,  "  What  if  ye 
should  behold  the  Son  of  Man' ascending  where 
he  was  before  ?"     John  6  :  62. 

In  the  conversation  with  the  Jews  recorded 
by  John  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  his  Gospel  our 
Lord  claimed  the  very  highest  dignity  and  power. 
He  promised  those  who  kept  his  word  that  they 
should  never  see  death.  He  declared  that  the 
Father  glorified  him.  He  astonished  and  enraged 
his  hearers  by  assuring  them,  "Before  Abraham 
was,  I  am."  John  8  :  51-58.  Such  language  was 
a  direct  affirmation  of  his  preexistence,  and  it  har- 
monizes with  the  language  he  subsequently  em- 
ployed in  his  intercessory  prayer:  "And  now,  O 
Father,  glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with 


THE  CHRIST  OK  THE  GOSPELS.  95 

the  glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world 
was."  John  17  :  4,  5.  "Thou  lovedst  me  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world. ' '  John  17 :  24.  Thus, 
even  while  Jesus  assumed  the  form  of  a  servant, 
there  shone  through  his  lowly  guise  some  glimp- 
ses of  his  native  majesty. 

This  divine  glory  was  apparent  not  only  in  the 
words  he  uttered,  but  in  the  many  and  various 
miracles,  the  record  of  which  occupies  so  many  of 
the  pages  of  the  four  Gospels.  When  he  stilled 
the  storm  upon  the  L,ake  of  Gennesaret  such  was 
the  impression  made  by  this  exhibition  of  author- 
ity, even  upon  the  twelve  who  knew  him  well, 
that  they  exclaimed  in  astonishment,  "What 
manner  of  man  is  this,  that  even  the  winds  and 
the  sea  obey  him  ?"  Matt.  8  :  27.  But  if  the  im- 
pression produced  by  this  miracle  is  recorded,  we 
cannot  doubt  that  a  similar  impression  was  pro- 
duced by  other  instances  of  the  exercise  of  super- 
natural power  by  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth.  When 
the  people  saw  him  feed  thousands  with  a  few 
loaves  of  bread,  John  6  :  1-13  ;  when  they  wit- 
nessed the  healing  of  various  diseases  and  infirm- 
ities, Matt.  4  :  23;  8  :  1-4;  9  :  35;  Luke  17  :  11-19; 
John  5  :  1-16,  etc.,  and  especially  the  cure  of  de- 
moniacs, Mark  1  :  23-28  ;  5  :  1-20 ;  when  lepers 
were  cleansed,  and  paralytics  restored  to  the  use 
of  their  bodily  powers,  how  could  they  avoid  the 


g6  THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 

conclusion  that  marvellous  power  was  intrusted 
to  this  beneficent  Teacher  and  Physician!  Jesus 
raised  from  the  funeral  bier  the  son  of  a  widow  of 
Nain:  what  was  the  effect  produced  by  the  mira- 
cle? "Fear  took  hold  on  all,  and  they  glorified 
God,  saying,  A  great  prophet  is  arisen  among  us, 
and  God  hath  visited  his  people. ' '  Luke  7 :  13-16. 
A  similar  conviction  was  wrought  by  the  miracu- 
lous raising  from  the  bed  of  death  of  the  youthful 
daughter  of  the  ruler  Jairus.  Mark  5  :  37-43.  But 
of  all  Christ's  miracles  the  most  stupendous  in  it- 
self, and  the  most  powerful  in  the  impression  it 
produced  both  upon  friends  and  foes,  was  the  res- 
urrection of  Lazarus  of  Bethany.  John  11  :  33-44. 
This  sign  was  expressly  wrought  in  order  that  the 
people  might  see  the  glory  of  God  and  might 
know  that  the  Father  ever  heard  him,  and  indeed 
that  the  Father  had  sent  him  into  the  world. 

In  fact,  all  the  miracles  related  in  the  Gospels 
are  so  many  revelations  of  the  glory  of  the  Son  of 
Man  and  so  many  evidences  of  a  greatness  unique 
and  truly  divine.  John  2:11.  Jesus  himself  was 
accustomed  to  appeal  to  his  miracles  as  evidences 
of  his  divinity.  It  was  to  these  he  pointed  when 
the  messengers  of  the  forerunner  came  to  him  with 
the  question,  "Art  thou  He  that  should  come?" 
Matt,  n  :  2-6.  It  was  for  their  disregard  of  these 
that  he*  so  severely  denounced  the  unbelief  of  the 


THE   CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  97 

inhabitants  of  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida.  Matt. 
11:21-24.  It  was  upon  these  that,  in  contro- 
versy with  the  unbelieving  Jews,  he  staked  his 
claims:  "  If  I  do  not  the  works  of  my  Father,  be- 
lieve me  not."  John  10  :  37,  38.  And  at  the  very 
close  of  his  ministry  Jesus  gave  final  judgment 
against  those  who  rejected  him,  saying,  "If  I  had 
not  done  among  them  the  works  which  none  other 
did,  they  had  not  had  sin;  but  now  have  they  both 
seen  and  hated  both  me  and  my  Father."    John 

15-23-25. 

As  the  works  of  the  Son  of  Man  are  the  mani- 
festation of  a  divine  power,  so  his  word  is  the  very 
Word  of  God.  The  people  listening  to  his  dis- 
courses felt  that  "he  taught  them  as  one  having 
authority,  and  not  as  the  scribes."  Matt.  7  :  28, 
29.  The  officers  sent  to  apprehend  him  acknowl- 
edged that  "never  man  spake  like  this  man." 
John  7  :  46.  He  himself  was  conscious  that  his 
words  were  imperishable.  "  Heaven  and  earth," 
said  he,  "shall  pass  away,  but  my  word  shall  not 
pass  away."  Matt.  24:35.  He  knew  that  his 
word  was  indestructible  seed  which  should  from 
age  to  age  produce  a  spiritual  harvest  to  the  praise 
of  God.     Matt.  13  : 1-23. 

In  fact,  the  word  of  the  lowly  carpenter  of 
Nazareth  had  virtue  to  deliver  man  from  the 
worst  ills  to  which  he  was  subject — from  error, 

7 


98  THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 

sin,  and  death.  To  receive  that  word  in  reverent 
faith  was  and  is  to  attain  spiritual  liberty  and 
eternal' life.     John  5:24,  25;  8:51. 

Christ  was  the  revelation  of  the  Father  to  man- 
kind. His  judgment,  he  himself  declared,  was 
the  Father's  judgment,  John  8:16;  his  will  was 
the  Father's  will,  John  5:50.  The  compassion 
of  the  Son  of  Man,  his  holy  love,  his  pity  towards 
the  penitent,  his  condescension  towards  the  young, 
his  anxiety  for  the  welfare  and  salvation  of  all — 
this  is  the  same  love  as  that  of  the  Father  in  heav- 
en, whose  desire  it  is  that  not  one  of  his  offspring 
should  perish.  Matt.  18: 14.  In  the  Son  of  Man 
are  revealed  the  Father's  wisdom  and  holiness, 
power  and  charity.  He  who  has  seen  the  Son 
has  seen  the  Father.     John  14:9. 

Christ  is  the  living  revelation  of  God.  His 
person  is  the  centre  of  the  religious  life  of  men — 
the  object  of  their  faith.  He  ever  represented 
himself  as  the  authoritative  bestower  of  the  high- 
est blessings:  uYe  believe  in  God,  believe  also 
in  me."  John  14:1.  "/  will  give  you  rest." 
Matt.  11:  28.  To  love  the  Son  of  Man  is  to  love 
God;  to  hate  him  is  to  hate  God.  John  15:23. 
To  give  one's  self  to  him  is  to  give  one's  self  to 
God,  John  17: 10;  to  hold  fellowship  with  him  is 
to  hold  fellowship  with  God,  John  17:23;  to  dwell 
in  him  is  to  dwell  in  God.    John  14:  23.    The  Son 


THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  99 

of  Man  is  God  become  man;  is,  as  Vinet  says,  ' '  the 
God  whom  one  sees  and  loves;"  is,  as  Pascal  de- 
clares, "  the  God  whose  knees  one  can  embrace I" 
It  is  not  incredible  that  our  Father  in  heaven 
should  manifest  himself  to  us  in  the  person  of  his 
Son.  But  it  is  incredible  that  a  being  so  morally 
unique  as  Jesus,  a  being  who  has  been  and  is  the 
source  of  the  highest  spiritual  blessings  to  man- 
kind, should  have  lived  and  died  under  an  illusion 
as  to  his  relation  to  the  Heavenly  Father,  that  he 
should  have  been  in  error  in  claiming  to  be  the  very 
Son  of  God.  We  reason  from  his  faultless,  glori- 
ous character  to  the  validity  of  his  own  witness  to 
himself,  to  his  proper  deity.  The  Son  of  Man  he 
was,  meek  and  lowly  in  heart;  but  he  was  also 
what  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  minis- 
try on  earth  he  consistently  claimed  to  be  and 
proved  himself  to  be,  The  Son  of  God  ! 


III. 

JESUS  THE  SAVIOUR  OF  THE  WORLD. 

JESUS,  the  Son  of  Man,  was  undoubtedly  the 
Messiah  foretold  by  the  Hebrew  prophets.  But 
his  mission  was  far  grander  and  loftier  than  any 
local  or  national  office  could  involve.  He  him- 
self spoke  of  other  sheep  than  those  of  the  fold  of 


100  THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 

Israel  whom  he  destined  to  form  the  one  flock 
under  his  care,  for  he  was  the  divine  Shepherd  of 
mankind.  John  10:16.  His  life,  his  miracles, 
his  teaching,  his  obedience  to  the  Father's  will, 
his  conflict  with  the  world's  sin — all  converged 
towards  one  and  the  same  end,  the  redemption 
OF  mankind.  And  that  which  rendered  him  the 
Saviour  was  the  giving  up  of  his  life  as  a  ransom 
for  many. 

From  the  very  commencement  of  his  ministry, 
as  we  learn  from  the  recorded  conversation  with 
Nicodemus,  Jesus  contemplated  its  tragical  end. 
He  foretold  that  he  should  be  "lifted  up  from  the 
earth."  John  3:14,  15.  And  as  the  time  drew 
near  he  gave  his  disciples  to  understand  that  he 
should  "suffer  many  things  at  the  hands  of  the 
chief  priests  and  scribes,"  that  he  should  be  put 
to  death  with  violence,  and  that  he  should  rise 
again  on  the  third  day.  Matt.  16:21;  17:22,  23; 
20:17-19;  26:2.  The  prospect  was  one  which 
troubled  his  sensitive  spirit;  he  looked  forward  to 
an  overwhelming  baptism  of  suffering.  Luke 
12:50.  Yet  he  regarded  his  approaching  anguish 
as  appointed  by  divine  wisdom  and  as  foretold  in 
Old  Testament  Scripture.  He  was  the  grain  of 
wheat  which  must  die  in  order  to  bring  forth  much 
fruit,  John  12:24;  his  flesh  was  the  bread  which 
he  would  give  for  the  life  of  the  world.     John 


THE  CHRIST  OP  THE  GOSPELS.  IOI 

6:51-53.  On  the  eve  of  his  passion,  when  insti- 
tuting the  Memorial  Supper,  he  spoke  of  his  blood 
as  u  My  blood  of  the  covenant,  which  is  shed  for 
many  unto  remission  of  sins."     Matt.  26:26-28. 

In  the  mortal  sufferings  of  the  Lord  Jesus  there 
was  something  more  than  appeared  upon  the  sur- 
face. While  many  of  Christ's  courageous  follow- 
ers have  died  the  martyr's  death  with  cheerful- 
ness and  even  with  gladness,  it  is  observable  that 
his  was  no  triumphant  end.  His  death  was  pre- 
ceded by  unutterable  agony  of  spirit.  Although 
he  had  always  expressed  his  conviction  that  the 
Father  would  not  leave  him  to  himself,  John  8: 16, 
29,  in  u  the  hour  of  the  power  of  darkness,"  Luke 
22:53,  he  felt  himself  forsaken  by  his  Heavenly 
Father,  Matt.  27:46.  Deep  was  the  humiliation 
into  which  he  descended  for  our  sake,  and  bitter 
was  the  cup  of  woe  he  deigned  to  drink  for  us ! 

The  explanation  of  Christ's  anguish  is  to  be 
found  in  the  consideration  that  it  had  reference  to 
the  inviolable  moral  law  of  the  great  Ruler  of  the 
universe.  The  righteous  Governor  could  not  suf- 
fer his  law  to  be  defied  and  contemned;  he  could 
not  absolve  the  guilty  race  of  men  without  exhib- 
iting the  authority  and  majesty  of  the  law  con- 
necting punishment  with  sin.  Jesus,  the  only 
innocent  member  of  our  race,  submitting  to  un- 
merited sufferings  and  death,  made  a  reparation 


102  THE   CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 

for  human  sin.  Thus  every  guilty  soul  that  re- 
pents, confides  in  the  Redeemer,  and  takes  advan- 
tage of  the  propitiation  he  has  offered,  is  assured 
by  the  gospel  of  obtaining  in  Jesus'  name  and  for 
Jesus'  sake  the  pardon  of  his  transgressions,  salva- 
tion, and  eternal  life.  Matt.  26:28;  20:28;  John 
3:14,  15.  Christ's  death  was  a  willing  sacrifice, 
an  act  of  cheerful  obedience  towards  his  Father, 
of  ready  devotion  for  the  salvation  of  his  brothers 
of  mankind;  he  "tasted  death  for  every  man." 
He  might  have  avoided  death,  but  as  the  Good 
Shepherd  he  chose  to  give  his  life  for  the  sheep. 
John  10:14,  15. 

In  reading  the  narrative  of  our  Lord's  passion 
as  given  by  the  evangelists  we  are  constrained  to 
regard  it,  not  as  the  defeat  of  one  vanquished  by 
the  might  of  His  adversaries,  but  as  the  consum- 
mation of  the  career  of  humiliation  voluntarily 
accepted  by  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  In  the 
midst  of  his  ignominy,  his  holiness  and  his  divin- 
ity shone  forth  with  all  the  more  majestic  splen- 
dor. Witness  the  several  incidents  recorded  by 
those  who  witnessed  the  awful  scene  on  Calvary: 
his  prayer  for  his  executioners,  Luke  23:34;  his 
commendation  of  his  mother  to  the  care  of  John, 
John  19:25-27;  his  gracious  promise  of  salvation 
to  the  dying  malefactor,  Luke  23:43.  Even  to 
his  last  breath  he  retained  his  self-possession  and 


THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  IC3 

displayed  his  patience,  his  filial  solicitude,  his 
compassion,  his  divine  majesty.  And  when  he 
had  yielded  his  spirit  unto  his  Father's  hands, 
his  demeanor,  taken  in  connection  with  the  earth- 
quake, the  darkness,  and  all  the  accompanying 
circumstances,  elicited  from  the  Roman  centurion 
the  exclamation,  "Surely  this  was  a  righteous 
man!"  Luke  23:47.  "Truly  this  was  the  Son 
of  God!"     Matt.  27:54. 

The  narrative  of  Christ's  earthly  manifestation 
does  not,  however,  end  with  his  death.  When 
during  his  ministry  he  spoke  of  his  approaching 
decease,  he  professed  his  intention  of  taking  again 
the  life  he  was  about  to  lay  down.  John  10:17, 
18.  Accordingly  we  find  the  evangelists  relate 
that  on  the  third  day  after  his  death  Jesus  showed 
himself,  risen  and  living,  to  his  disciples,  and 
that  he  offered  most  indisputable  proofs  of  the 
reality  of  his  resurrection,  showing  them  his 
wounds,  Luke  24:39;  John  20:20,  and  bidding 
them  handle  him,  eating,  Luke  24:41-43,  and 
conversing  with  them,  and  displaying  for  their 
benefit  his  miraculous  power  over  nature,  John 
21:1-14. 

The  words  of  the  risen  Jesus  have  in  no  respect 
the  character  of  apocryphal,  invented  sayings. 
They  are  all  worthy  of  the  divine  Speaker.    Such 


104  THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 

is  the  case  with  the  message  he  sent  by  Mary  to 
his  brethren,  "I  ascend  unto  my  Father  and  your 
Father,  to  my  God  and  your  God,"  John  20:17; 
with  the  authoritative  language  in  which  he  con- 
ferred the  gift  of  the  Spirit  upon  his  assembled 
disciples,  John  20:22,  23;  with  the  appeal  and  the 
subsequent  declaration  upon  the  occasion  of  the 
interview  with  Thomas,  John  20:26-29;  with  the 
instructions  delivered  to  the  apostles  with  refer- 
ence to  their  evangelistic  mission  to  their  fellow- 
men,  Matt.  28:18-20.  Nothing  is  more  decisive 
upon  this  point  than  the  record  of  the  conversa- 
tion which  took  place  between  the  risen  Lord  and 
Simon  Peter.  John  21: 15-23.  The  faithfulness 
and  tenderness  breathing  throughout  the  recorded 
words  of  the  Saviour  are  conclusive  evidence  that 
they  were  his  words  in  whose  heart  was  no  indif- 
ference to  sin,  but  also  no  harshness  towards  the 
repentant  sinner.  In  fact  such  an  interview  as 
that  related  by  John  in  the  twenty-first  chapter  of 
his  Gospel  could  not  possibly  have  been  invented. 
The  resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  the 
confirmation  of  his  own  witness  to  himself.  It  is 
the  seal  placed  by  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  God 
upon  the  person  and  work  of  Jesus  to  assure  us 
that,  in  the  transaction  of  Calvary,  sin  and  death, 
those  two  tyrants  of  our  afflicted  humanity,  were 
conquered  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  he  who  has 


THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  105 

obtained  this  victory  is — not  only  in  virtue  of  his 
dignity  as  Son  of  God,  but  also  as  the  great  Re- 
deemer— the  sovereign  Shepherd  and  the  glori- 
ous, gracious  King  of  man. 

Withdrawn  from  human  sight  Jesus  lives  in 
heavenly  places.  At  the  right  hand  of  God,  Mark 
16:19,  he  pleads  with  his  Father  for  mankind, 
and  reveals  himself  in  a  manner  altogether  invis- 
ible and  spiritual,  but  yet  real  and  effective,  to  all 
who  trust  in  him  and  love  him. 

On  the  eve  of  his  death  Jesus  promised  the 
great  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Comforter,  John 
14:16-19;  16:7,  13-16,  and  this  promise  he  has 
through  the  long  ages  that  have  since  elapsed 
been  fulfilling  for  the  benefit  of  all  his  disciples, 
conferring  thus  upon  them  the  blessings  of  truth 
and  holiness,  guidance,  peace,  and  consolation. 
He  foretold  that  men  should  witness  the  signs  of 
his  spiritual  power  in  the  establishment  of  his 
kingdom  both  in  the  heart  of  individuals  and  in 
the  bosom  of  human  society.  His  prediction  is 
still  in  course  of  fulfilment.  The  church  of  the 
Redeemer  grows  like  a  tree,  mighty  and  spread- 
ing. Matt.  13:31,32.  The  circle  which  includes 
the  believing  and  obedient  is  constantly  widening 
as  the  gospel  is  preached  in  the  most  distant  lands. 
Matt.  24:14. 

When  the  purpose  of  divine  wisdom  is  accom- 


106  THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 

plished,  then  the  end  shall  come.  The  Son  of 
man  shall  appear  in  his  glory,  the  dead  shall  be 
raised,  the  righteous  shall  be  separated  from  the 
wicked.  And  while  the  workers  of  iniquity  shall 
be  rejected,  the  elect  shall  be  gathered  into  the 
heavenly  kingdom,  Matt.  13:43;  25:31-46;  John 
5  :  28,  29,  and,  freed  for  ever  from  sin,  from  sor- 
row, and  from  death,  shall  enter  into  the  full  en- 
joyment of  all  that  their  Lord  has  promised — 
shall  share  in  the  beatific  and  eternal  vision  of 
their  God! 

In  picturing  the  moral  lineaments  of  Jesus  we 
have  combined  the  representations  given  by  those 
who  are  called  the  Synoptic  Evangelists — Mat- 
thew, Mark,  and  Luke,  with  the  very  distinct  and 
yet  perfectly  consistent  and  harmonious  represen- 
tation of  the  fourth  Gospel.  We  have  recognized, 
in  the  several  delineations  of  the  evangelists,  ONE 
divine  original,  a  being  who  was  conscious  of 
possessing  perfect  holiness  and  divine  dignity,  and 
of  having  come  to  earth,  commissioned  by  his  Fa- 
ther, to  achieve  the  redemption  of  mankind.  We 
have  seen  Christ's  own  declarations  blend  into  a 
single  testimony  in  favor  of  the  divinity  of  the 
Son  of  Man,  in  whom  the  weary  and  the  heavy- 
laden  recognize  the  Saviour  whom  they  seek— a 
Saviour  who,  though  belonging  to  humanity,  is 
yet  infinitely  above  humanity,  so  that,   without 


THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  107 

being  guilty  of  idolatry,  we  can  base  our  faith 
upon  him  and  to  him  yield  our  heart. 

That  there  are  divergences  in  detail  between 
the  first  three  Gospels  and  that  of  John  is  admit- 
ted. The  aim  of  the  Synoptists  was  to  preserve 
the  primitive  accounts  received  by  Christians  as 
to  the  facts  of  our  Saviour's  ministry,  Luke  1:1-4; 
the  aim  of  John  was  to  prove  that  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth was  none  other  than  the  divine  Word  taking 
upon  him  the  nature  and  living  the  life  of  man. 
John  1 : 1-18.  The  four  evangelists  have  con- 
curred in  bringing  before  our  minds  THE  ONE 
Christ,  with  the  witness  he  himself  bore  to  his 
absolute  moral  perfection,  his  divine  dignity,  his 
redemptive  mission.  These  historians  have  pre- 
served for  our  benefit  the  testimony  of  Jesus  to 
his  own  nature,  character,  and  work.  They  have 
not  ' '  invented ' '  Jesus  Christ,  but  they  have  per- 
mitted us  to  hear  his  discourses,  to  witness  his 
mighty  works,  to  follow  him  to  his  cross,  to  be- 
hold his  glory. 

Jesus  Christ  really  was  what  he  professed  to 
be.  His  witness  to  himself  is  the  perfect  truth — 
a  rock  upon  which  those  who  would  have  cer- 
tainty and  safety  may  confidently  build.  1  Cor. 
3:  XI. 

To  be  happy  in  the  midst  of  this  life — filled  as 
it  is  with  sorrows — it  is  necessary  to  know  Christ, 


108  THE   CHRIST  OF  THE   GOSPELS. 

not  as  we  know  a- stranger  who  passes  through  the 
street,  but  as  we  know  our  most  intimate  and  be- 
loved friend;  in  a  word,  we  must  love  Christ. 

And  wheu  the  hour  comes  for  us  to  quit  this 
earth,  in  order  that  we  may  go  in  peace  we  must 
believe  in  this  blessed  Son  of  God,  who  said  to 
Martha,  the  sister  of  Lazarus,  ' '  I  am  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life ;  he  that  believeth  on  me, 
though  he  die,  yet  shall  he  live;  and  whosoever 
liveth  and  believeth  on  me  shall  never  die." 
John  ii  :25,  26. 


FERDINAND  CHRISTIAN  BAUR 


AND 


HIS  THEORY 


OF 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

AND  OF  THE 

NEW  TESTAMENT  WRITINGS. 

BY 

REY.  A.  B.  BRUCE,  D.  D. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  TRACT. 


It  is  pointed  out  that  Baur  exercises  influence  over 
the  English-speaking  public  through  translations  of  his 
works,  through  the  work  entitled  "  Supernatural  Reli- 
gion "  and  through  the  study  of  the  negelian  philoso- 
phy in  the  universities. 

A  few  biographical  particulars  concerning  Baur  are 
supplied. 

The  influence  of  Schleiermacher,  Hegel,  and  Strauss, 
on  the  formation  of  his  later  views  concerning  Christian- 
ity, is  briefly  adverted  to. 

Then  follows  the  exposition  of  these  views,  forming 
what  is  known  as  the  Tubingen  theory  as  to  the  origin 
of  Christianity  and  the  New  Testament  writings. 

The  theory  is  next  criticised,  the  chief  positions  be- 
ing these :  The  theory  is  based  on  the  two  philosophical 
assumptions  that  the  miraculous  is  impossible,  and  that 
all  historical  movements  proceed,  according  to  the  He- 
gelian law  of  development,  by  antagonism.  The  alleged 
antagonism  between  Paul  and  the  original  apostles  has 
no  real  foundation  in  the  New  Testament ;  the  criticism 
of  New  Testament  books  associated  with  this  theory 
does  not  stand  the  test  of  impartial  investigation ;  the 
theological  tendencies  ascribed  to  the  writers  of  these 
books  are,  for  the  most  part,  imaginary. 

Then  follows  a  summary  of  these  criticisms,  and  a 
reference  to  the  good  incidentally  resulting  from  the 
promulgation  of  the  theory. 

The  tract  concludes  with  a  brief  statement  as  to  the 
nature  of  the  gospel  and  the  harmony  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament writings. 


FERDINAND  CHRISTIAN  BAUR 

AND  HIS  THEORY. 


IT  is  now  nearly  half  a  centnry  since  the  fa- 
mous Tubingen  theory  as  to  the  origin  of  Chris- 
tianity and  of  the  New  Testament  writings  was 
propounded  by  the  learned  and  able  German  the- 
ologian above  named.  The  school  of  criticism 
founded  by  Dr.  Baur  is  decadent  or  nearly  dead 
in  Germany,  and  many  of  the  most  characteristic 
positions  of  the  founder  have  been  conclusively 
refuted  and  abandoned  even  by  his  own  disciples. 
But  the  movement  he  originated,  though  pretty 
well  spent  in  his  native  country,  has  still  vitality 
here,  where  it  is  of  much  more  recent  date;  for  it 
takes  Continental  waves  of  thought  well  nigh  a 
generation  to  reach  our  shores.  The  English- 
speaking  public  have  been  made  more  generally 
acquainted  with  Dr.  Baur  and  his  views  within 
the  last  twelve  or  fifteen  years  by  translations  of 
some  of  his  works,  and  by  the  anonymous  publi- 


112  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

cation  entitled  "Supernatural  Religion,"  the  com- 
mercial success  of  which — for  it  has  passed  through 
several  editions—  may  be  regarded  as  an  index  of 
the  eager  interest  taken  by  a  large  public  in  such 
skeptical  literature.  Another  fact  which  has  to 
be  taken  into  account  is  the  present  popularity, 
at  least  in  certain  centres  of  learning,  of  the  He- 
gelian philosophy.  *  As  long  as  Hegel  is  in  vogue, 
Baur  will  be  in  favor;  for,  as  we  shall  see,  Baur's 
theory  is  simply  Hegelianism  as  understood  by 
him  applied  to  the  fundamental  problems  of  the 
Christian  faith.     It  remains  to  add  that  Baur's 


*  It  is  not  easy  to  indicate  in  a  few  words  the  character  of  this 
philosophy,  about  the  significance  of  which  even  its  adherents  are 
much  divided  in  opinion.  It  may,  however,  be  described  as  an 
idealistic  Pantheism.  It  differs  from  the  system  of  Spinoza  chiefly 
in  two  respects.  First,  in  its  conception  of  God  ;  while  in  the  Spi- 
nozan  system  the  absolute  being  is  conceived  of  as  substance,  in 
the  Hegelian  it  is  conceived  of  as  spirit.  Second,  in  the  view 
taken  of  the  connection  between  God,  the  world  of  nature,  and 
man.  In  Spinoza's  theory  God  is  endowed  with  the  attributes 
both  of  matter  and  of  mind,  and  the  phenomena  of  the  material 
and  spiritual  universe  are  thought  of  as  two  parallel  streams  of 
being  corresponding  to  each  other,  but  not  casually  connected. 
In  Hegel's  theory  God,  nature,  and  man  are  thought  of  as  a  series 
or  circle.  God  objectifies  himself  in  nature  and  rises  out  of  na- 
ture, returns  to  himself  and  becomes  conscious  of  himself  in  man. 
This  is  the  great  process  of  the  universe,  and  it  answers  to  the 
process  of  the  human  mind  in  thought,  which  moves  in  a  perpet- 
ual rhythm  of  affirmation,  negation,  and  synthesis  of  opposites. 
This  rhythmical  movement  is  the  law  at  once  of  logic,  of  history, 
and  of  the  universe  at  large.  The  universe  is  a  great  movement 
of  thought.  We  shall  see  further  on  the  use  made  by  Baur  of  this 
law  in  explaining  the  origin  of  Christianity. 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  II3 

influence  is  traceable  even  in  quarters  where  it  is 
strenuously  resisted.  Believing  theologians  in  all 
parts  of  Europe  have  to  notice  him,  however 
widely  they  differ  from  him.  No  one  affects  to 
ignore  him. 

We  cannot,  therefore,  regard  ourselves  as 
undertaking  an  idle  task  when  we  endeavor  to 
expound  and  criticise,  in  a  simple  popular  man- 
ner, a  theory  which  makes  Christianity  a  thing 
of  purely  natural  origin,  calls  in  question  the  au- 
thenticity of  all  but  a  few  of  the  New  Testament 
books,  and  makes  the  whole  collection  contain, 
not  a  harmonious  system  of  divine  truth,  but  a 
confused  mass  of  merely  human  and  contradictory 
opinions  as  to  the  nature  of  the  Christian  religion. 

It  may  increase  the  interest  and  gratify  the 
natural  curiosity  of  some  of  our  readers  if  we  pre- 
face our  exposition  and  criticism  with 

A   FEW  BIOGRAPHICAL.    PARTICULARS. 

Ferdinand  Christian  Baur  was  born  in  1729 
in  a  village  called  Schmieden,  near  Stuttgart;  but 
after  his  eighth  year  his  boyhood  was  passed  in  a 
small  town  at  the  southern  base  of  the  Swabian 
Alps  called  Blaubeuren,  a  few  miles  distant  from 
Ulm.  His  father  was  a  clergyman,  and  exercised 
his  sacred  office  in  both  places  successively  in  a 
diligent,  conscientious  manner,  adding  to  his  other 

8 


1I4  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN   BAUR 

duties  the  instruction  of  his  son  till  his  fourteenth 
year.  At  that  age  the  boy  went  to  school  to  the 
seminary  of  the  place,  called  the  Cloisters,  pro- 
ceeding to  Tubingen  in  1809.  Both  at  school 
and  at  the  university  he  developed  a  decided  taste 
and  talent  for  classical  and  philosophical  studies. 
On  leaving  the  university  in  1814  he  acted  for  a 
year  or  two  as  an  assistant  preacher  in  a  rural  par- 
ish. On  the  death  of  his  father  in  1817  he  was 
appointed  to  a  professorship  in  the  seminary  in 
Blaubeuren,  where  he  very  soon  made  his  mark 
as  a  teacher,  and  counted  among  his  pupils  some 
youths  who  afterwards  became  famous,  one  being 
D.  F.  Strauss,  author  of  "The  Mythical  Theory 
of  the  Life  of  Jesus."  In  1826  Bauer  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  vacant  chair  of  historical  theology 
in  Tubingen,  which  he  filled  till  his  death  in 
i860. 

Baur  was  a  hard  student,  exceptionally  so  even 
in  Germany.  After  his  appointment  to  the  chair 
in  Tubingen  his  habit  was  to  rise,  summer  and 
winter,  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  working 
in  winter  for  some  hours  without  a  fire,  out  of 
consideration  for  the  domestics,  though  the  cold 
was  occasionally  so  severe  that  the  ink  was  fro- 
zen !  He  worked  at  this  rate  from  early  morn 
till  bedtime,  with  only  the  necessary  interruptions 
for  public  duties,  meals,  and  exercise,   to  make 


AND   HIS  THEORY.  1 1  5 

himself  master  of  the  subjects  which  he  had  to 
teach;  in  which,  being  a  shy,  modest,  scrupu- 
lously conscientious  man,  he  deemed  himself  so 
deficient  at  the  time  of  his  appointment  that  he 
felt  inclined  to  refuse  it.  Whatever  deficiencies 
he  might  be  conscious  of  to  begin  with,  it  is  easy 
to  see  that  an  able  man  with  such  extraordinary 
application  was  likely  erelong  to  become  a  per- 
son of  great  learning,  and,  unless  in  this  he  was 
to  be  an  exception  among  his  countrymen,  also  a 
voluminous  author.  Baur  was  both  in  an  emi- 
nent degree.  His  works  exhibit  immense  learn- 
ing as  well  as  transcendent  ability,  and  they  are 
very  numerous  and  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects 
within  the  general  limits  of  theology.  In  both 
respects  he  is  one  of  the  foremost  figures  in  the 
whole  history  of  German  theological  literature. 
However  widely  and  seriously  we  dissent  from 
his  later  views,  with  which  his  name  is  chiefly 
associated,  it  is  only  justice  to  pay  this  tribute  at 
the  outset  to  his  fame  as  an  author.  * 

HIS  MASTERS. 

M  Later  views  "  we  have  said,  for  Baur  began 
his  literary  career  very  early,  and  his  theological 
starting-point  was  very  different  from  his  goal. 

*  The  foregoing  biographical  particulars  are  taken  from  Zel- 
ler's  article  on  Baur  in  his  "  Vortrage  unci  Abhandlungen,"  1865. 


Il6  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN   BAUR 

His  first  essay  appeared  in  1817  in  a  theological 
serial,  and  was  orthodox  and  supernaturalistic  in 
its  attitude,  after  the  tradition  of  the  old  Tubin- 
gen school.  The  founder  of  the  new  Tubingen 
school  passed  from  supernatural  ism  to  thorough- 
going naturalism  very  gradually,  and  the  process 
by  which  his  ultimate  scheme  of  thought  was 
worked  out  in  his  mind  has  a  long  history. 
Among  the  influences  to  which  the  charge  is  to 
be  attributed  a  very  prominent  place  is  due  to 
Schleiermacher,  whose  "Glaubenslehre,"  first 
published  in  1821,  Baur  studied  with  the  receptive 
enthusiasm  of  youth  during  the  Blaubeuren  period 
of  his  professional  career.  Schleiermacher  has 
sent  his  disciples  in  very  different  directions;  some 
upward  towards  a  fuller  faith  than  his  own,  some 
downward  into  the  depths  of  theological  negation. 
The  impulse  communicated  to  Baur  was  down- 
ward. The  tendency  and  effect  of  Schleierma- 
cher's  exposition  of  the  Christian  faith  are  to 
reduce  the  supernatural  to  a  minimum  and  to 
make  the  little  that  remains  appear  as  natural  as 
possible,  and  so  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  science 
and  philosophy  [as  their  claims  are  conceived  of 
from  a  skeptical  or  semi-skeptical  standpoint], 
while  endeavoring  to  do  justice  to  the  sentiments 
of  believers.  Christianity  appears  simply  as  one, 
though  the  best,  of  the  forms  which  the  religious 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  117 

consciousness  has  assumed  in  the  religious  history 
of  mankind:  Christ  as  the  ideal  man,  the  consum- 
mation and  crown  of  humanity,  which  was  exhib- 
ited only  in  rude  condition  in  the  man  of  the  first 
creation;  and  many  doctrines  previously  deemed 
important  are  treated  as  of  no  essential  moment. 
The  disciple  caught  the  spirit  of  the  master  and 
carried  it  out  to  consequences  at  which  he  stood 
aghast;  treating,  for  example,  the  ideal  humanity 
of  Christ  as  a  purely  subjective  notion,  which 
had  no  foundation  in  the  life  of  Jesus.  * 

Another  of  Baur's  masters  was  Hegel.  He- 
gel's influence  came  later,  and  may  not  have  been 
so  deep  or  decisive  as  Schleiermacher's,  for  it  is 
the  favorite  authors  of  our  early  years  that  tell 
upon  us  most  powerfully.  But  it  is  apparent  to 
any  one  who  reads  the  wTorks  in  which  Baur*  ex- 
pounds his  theory  respecting  the  origin  of  Chris- 
tianity, such  as  "The  History  of  Christianity  in 
the  First  Three  Centuries,  "f  how  completely  the 
great  philosopher's  system  had  taken  possession 
of  his  mind.  The  style  is  completely  overlaid  by 
the  characteristic  phrases  of  the  Hegelian  philos- 
ophy.    Nor  is  Hegel's  influence  a  matter  affecting 

•  Vide  Baur's  work  on  Gnosticism,  "  Die  Christliche  Gnosis," 
pp.  626-668. 

t  This  forms  the  first  volume  of  his  great  work  on  the  Chris- 
tian Church. 


Il8  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

merely  the  form  of  thought.  From  that  philoso- 
pher Baur  took  the  great  law  of  development  by 
antagonism,  of  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
say  more  hereafter.  We  simply  ask  our  readers 
to  take  preliminary  note  of  the  fact  here. 

Another  of  the  men  from  whom  Baur  received 
a  powerful  impulse  was  one  of  his  Blaubeuren 
pupils,  Strauss.  When  Strauss'  "  I^eben  Jesu  " 
appeared  in  1835  Baur  recognized  at  once  its 
power  and  its  defect.  Its  value  for  him  lay  in 
the  completeness  with  which,  as  he  thought,  it 
demolished  the  traditional  faith  in  the  historical 
truth  of  the  Gospel  records,  so  clearing  the  way 
for  critical  inquiry  into  the  genesis  of  these  rec- 
ords. Its  defect  in  his  view  was  that  it  confined 
itself  to  criticism  of  the  history  and  did  not  attempt 
criticism  of  the  writings.  This  defect  Baur  set 
himself  to  supply,  striving  to  show  how  the  vari- 
ous Gospels  arose  and  why  it  is  that  they  cannot 
be  trusted  as  sources  of  information  concerning 
the  life  and  teaching  of  Jesus.* 

HIS  THEORY   EXPOUNDED. 

In  proceeding  now  to  expound  Baur's  theory 
concerning  these  Gospels  and  the  New  Testament 
writings  generally,  and  concerning  the  origin  of 

*  His  views  on  the  Gospels  are  set  forth  in  the  work  "  Die 
Kanonischen  Evangelien."    1847. 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  1 19 

Christianity,  we  ask  our  readers  to  remember  that 
we  concern  ourselves  only  with  those  works  of 
our  author  which  directly  bear  on  these  topics. 
We  have  further  to  explain  that  our  aim  is  not  to 
show  the  genesis  of  the  theory  in  the  author's 
mind,  but  to  exhibit  it  as  it  finally  took  shape — a 
fully-developed  and  closely-connected  system  of 
thought;  to  exhibit  it,  not  exhaustively,  but  in 
its  main  outlines. 

According  to  this  theory,  then,  the  great  out- 
standing fact  regarding  the  Christianity  of  the 
apostolic  age  was  a  radical  contrariety  of  view  as 
to  the  nature  and  destination  of  the  new  religion, 
dividing  the  church  into  two  parties,  one  of  which, 
headed  by  the  apostle  Paul,  held  that  the  gospel 
was  for  the  world.and  for  all,  Jew  and  Gentile,  on 
equal  terms;  while  the  other,  having  all  the  origi- 
nal apostles,  the  companions  of  Jesus,  on  its  side, 
made  Christianity  essentially  Jewish  by  insisting 
on  the  perpetual  obligation  of  the  Jewish  law. 
The  one  was  the  party  of  the  Panlinists  or  Uni- 
versalists;  the  other  was  the  party  of  the  Judaists. 
This  controversy,  in  its  origin,  progress  and  ter- 
mination, by  compromise  or  reconciliation,  cov- 
ered the  history  of  the  church  for  a  hundred 
years,  from  the  time  when  Paul's  principal  epis- 
tles were  written  down  to  a  date  somewhat  later 
than  the  middle  of  the  second  century.     All  the 


120  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

writings  of  the  New  Testament,  it  is  maintained, 
have  reference  to  and  spring  out  of  the  various 
stages  of  the  controversy,  and  their  approximate 
date  can  be  determined  by  inspection  of  their 
contents,  showing  to  which  stage  they  must  have 
belonged.  Clear  evidence,  it  is  alleged,  of  the 
existence  of  this  controversy  can  be  discerned  more 
or  less  in  nearly  all  the  books,  but  more  especially 
in  certain  of  their  number.  Before  going  into 
this,  however,  it  may  be  well  to  go  back  to  the 
fountain-head  and  consider  the  account  given  of 
the  teaching  of  the  Founder  of  the  faith.  We 
shall  thus  become  acquainted  with  Dr.  Baur's 
conception  of  the  Christianity  of  Christ,  and  learn 
what,  in  his  opinion,  were  the  elements  therein 
which  laid  the  foundation  for  subsequent  misun- 
derstanding. 

Christianity  as  taught  by  Jesus,  according  to 
Baur,  was  a  purely  natural  product  of  certain  in- 
fluences which  can  be  specified.  He  attempts  the 
same  task  with  reference  to  the  origin  of  Chris- 
tianity that  Gibbon  sought  to  accomplish  with 
reference  to  its  subsequent  progress  and  triumph. 
And  he  gets  rid  of  the  supernatural  in  the  same 
way  as  the  great  English  historian,  i.  e.,  not  by 
formal  argument  directed  against  the  possibility 
or  reality  of  the  miraculous,  but  by  the  tacit 
assumption  that  there  were  no  miracles  to  be  ac- 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  121 

counted  for,  and  by  an  enumeration  of  natural 
causes  which  of  themselves  appear  to  him  quite 
sufficient  to  account  for  the  rise  of  the  new  reli- 
gion. The  author  very  distinctly  indicates  his 
attitude  in  the  opening  sentences  of  his  work  on 
u  Christianity  and  the  Christian  Church  of  the 
First  Three  Centuries."     He  says: 

' '  In  no  department  of  historical  inquiry  does 
all  that  relates  to  the  contents  of  a  definite  series 
of  historical  phenomena  depend  so  much  on  the 
initial  point  from  which  it  starts  as  in  the  history 
of  the  Christian  church;  nowhere  does  so  much 
depend  as  here  on  the  conception  we  form  of  the 
point  from  which  the  whole  historical  course 
takes  its  beginning.  The  historian  who  comes  to 
the  task  with  the  faith  of  the  church  stands  at  its 
threshold  before  the  wonder  of  all  wonders,  before 
the  original  fact  of  Christianity — that  the  Son  of 
God  descended  from  the  eternal  throne  of  God- 
head to  this  earth  and  became  man  in  the  womb 
of  the  Virgin.  He  who  sees  in  this  an  absolute 
miracle  puts  himself  thereby  outside  of  all  histor- 
ical connection.  A  miracle  is  an  absolute  begin- 
ning, and  the  more  this  beginning  conditions  all 
that  follows,  the  more  must  the  whole  series  of 
the  phenomena  which  belong  to  the  subject  of 
Christianity  bear  the  same  stamp.  .  .  .  Histori- 
cal investigation  has  therefore  very  naturally  an 


122  FERDINAND  CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

interest  in  drawing  even  the  miracle  of  the  abso- 
lute beginning  into  the  historical  connection  and 
resolving  it  as  far  as  possible  into  its  natural  ele- 
ments. ' ' 

What,  then,  were  these  natural  elements  which 
together  constituted  the  Christianity  of  Christ? 
Baur  answers  this  question  very  explicitly.  There 
were  four  elements  for  which,  as  he  thinks,  Chris- 
tianity was  indebted  to  the  previous  history  of  the 
world.  These  were  its  universalistic  spirit,  its  sub- 
jectivity or  spirituality,  its  pure  monotheism,  and  its 
ascetic  ideal  of  life.  The  first  it  got  from  Rome, 
the  seat  of  a  universal  empire;  the  second  from 
Greece,  which  had  been  taught  by  the  Athenian 
sage  that  the  first  business  of  man  was  to  know 
himself  and  to  realize  his  importance  as  a  moral 
subject;  the  third  from  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  as 
interpreted  by  the  Alexandrian  philosophy  repre- 
sented by  Philo,  whereby  the  Jewish  idea  of  God 
was  purged  from  particularism  and  adapted  to 
the  requirements  of  a  universal  religion;  and  the 
fourth  from  the  Jewish  anchorites,  known  by  the 
name  of  the  Essenes. 

Christ's  merit  was  to  discern  these  essential 
features  in  the  religious  movements  of  the  past, 
to  appreciate  their  importance  for  the  present, 
and  to  see  in  them  the  germs  out  of  which  might 
spring  a  great  future.     No  less,  but  also  no  more. 


AND   HIS  THEORY.  12.3 

Universality  was  in  the  air,  and  it  only  required 
a  sympathetic,  powerful  mind  to  lay  hold  of  it 
and  introduce  it  into  the  sphere  of  religion  and 
make  it  valid  there.  It  was  to  be  expected  that 
some  one  would  arise  to  become  in  religion  the 
mouthpiece  of  the  time-spirit,  and  from  the  na- 
ture of  the  case  it  was  also  to  be  expected  that 
when  the  Man  appeared  he  would  not  speak  in 
vain,  for  the  hour  was  propitious.  Political  Uni- 
versalism  preexisting  insured  success  for  religious 
Universality  adequately  proclaimed. 

So  likewise  with  the  second  element,  spirit- 
uality. "  Know  thyself,"  Socrates  had  said,  and 
the  word  had  gone  sounding  down  the  ages,  audi- 
ble to  an  ever-increasing  number  of  men,  awa- 
kening responsive  echoes  in  the  schools  of  philos- 
ophy, Stoics,  Epicureans,  Skeptics,  and  Eclectics 
vying  with  each  other  in  the  emphasis  of  their 
response,  till  at  length  the  voice  was  caught  up 
by  the  Sage  of  Galilee,  and  re-uttered  in  his  own 
dialect  with  a  power  sufficient  to  create  a  new 
world  founded  on  faith  in  the  infinite  importance 
of  man  as  a  moral  personality — a  faith  which, 
making  all  turn  on  the  spirit,  was  therefore  fit  to 
be  the  faith  of  all,  the  religion  of  humanity. 

Not  less  indebted  to  the  past,  according  to  Dr. 
Baur,  was  Jesus  even  for  his  ideas  of  God  and  of 
human  life.      His  Father-God,  beautiful  as  the 


124  FERDINAND  CHRISTIAN   BAUR 

conception  is,  was  simply  the  God  of  Israel  hu- 
manized by  means  of  the  philosophy  of  Philo. 
His  severe  maxims  of  conduct,  prescribing  a  life 
of  self-denial,  and  his  beatitudes  on  poverty,  ema- 
nated from  the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea,  where  the 
Kssene  brotherhood  spent  their  days  in  retirement 
from  the  world. 

Such,  according  to  the  Tubingen  theory,  were 
the  elements  of  the  religious  idea  of  Jesus,  and 
such  their  supposed  sources.  But  these  by  them- 
selves would  not  have  sufficed  to  make  Jesus  the 
power  he  became.  In  order  to  succeed  he  must 
avail  himself  of  the  Messiah  idea,  and  offer  him- 
self to  his  countrymen  as  the  fulfiller  of  Messianic 
hope.  The  Genius  of  the  new  religion  happening 
to  be  a  Jew,  no  other  pathway  to  influence  was 
open.  The  claim  to  be  Messiah  might  not  help 
him  all  at  once  to  become  a  world-power,  but  it 
was  indispensable  in  order  to  his  gaining  a  foot- 
ing among  his  own  people,  and  that  was  the  ne- 
cessary first  step  towards  universal  empire.  The 
Messianic  idea  in  itself  was  but  a  dream,  and  Jesus 
to  a  certain  extent  was  aware  of  the  fact;  never- 
theless it  could  not  be  ignored,  for  the  Jewish  na- 
tion earnestly  believed  in  it.  Any  man  seeking 
to  influence  decisively  the  Jewish  mind  must  rec- 
ognize the  Messianic  hope  as  a  fact  and  accom- 
modate himself  to  it.     If  he  aspired  to  be  a  su- 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  125 

preme  religious  benefactor  to  the  chosen  race,  he 
must  even  call  himself  the  Messiah.  In  Judaea  to 
say,  "  I  bring  to  you  the  summiim  bonum"  and  to 
say,  "I  am  the  Messiah,"  were  one  and  the  same 
thing.     In  Baur's  own  words: 

"Nothing  of  higher  moment  could  happen  on 
the  soil  of  Jewish  popular  religious  history  which 
did  not  either  connect  itself  with  the  Messiah  idea 
or  was  not  introduced  by  it.  Thus  was  indicated 
to  Christianity  the  way  which  it  had  to  take."* 

Observe  now  what  we  have  got.  Jesus  on  the 
one  hand  teaches  a  religion  universalistic  in  spir- 
it— for  all  mankind,  not  for  Jews  alone  ;  on  the 
other  he  claims  to  be  the  Jewish  Messiah.  Two 
things  thus  meet  in  him  which  may  not  be  irrec- 
oncilable, but  which  wear  a  superficial  aspect  of 
antagonism  that  may  easily  give  rise  to  contrari- 
ety of  view  and  controversy.  Some  of  those  who 
espouse  the  new  religion  may  emphasise  the  uni- 
versality of  Christ's  teaching,  and  others  may 
attach  chief  importance  to  his  Messiahship,  and 
hence  may  come  conflict.  For  the  ultimate  for- 
tunes of  the  new  religion  this  may  not  be  a  ca- 
lamity. On  Hegelian  principles,  indeed,  it  may 
confidently  be  expected  to  be  the  reverse;  for 
according  to  these  all  progress  and  development 
proceed  by  conflict.    From  this  point  of  view  it  is 

*  "  Geschichte  der  Christlichen  Kirche,"  I.  t>7- 


126  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN   BAUR 

desirable  that  conflict  as  to  the  nature  of  Chris- 
tianity should  arise;  the  new  movement  will  come 
to  nothing  unless  it  do  arise.  There  need  be  no 
great  fear  on  this  score,  as  human  beings  generally 
do  manage  to  get  up  controversies  about  matters 
in  which  they  are  deeply  interested,  especially  in 
the  sphere  of  religion.  There  may,  however,  be 
some  difficulty  in  getting  a  worthy  representative 
of  the  universalism  of  Christianity.  The  nar- 
rower view  will  look  after  itself,  for  the  multitude 
incline  to  narrow  ideas ;  but  what  if  no  effective 
advocate  of  a  gospel  for  the  world  should  appear  ? 
Here  is  one  possible  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
getting  Christianity  started  on  its  career.  Anoth- 
er very  serious  one,  coming  in  at  an  earlier  stage, 
arises  out  of  the  death  of  Jesus.  Must  not  that 
event  be  fatal  to  the  cause?  Yes,  replies  Dr. 
Baur,  unless  it  can  be  got  over  somehow.  It 
would  effectually  meet  the  difficulty  if  the  dead 
one  should  rise  again.  That,  however,  from  the 
Tubingen  point  of  view,  is  impossible,  and  the 
next  best  thing  is  that  the  disciples  should  per- 
suade themselves  that  their  Master  has  risen, 
which  is  happily  not  impossible.  Faith  in  the 
resurrection  will  serve  the  same  purpose  as  the 
resurrection  itself,  give  heart  to  the  followers  of 
Jesus  to  go  forth  as  the  apostles  of  the  Christian 
religion. 


AND   HIS  THEORY.  1 27 

What  the  eleven  will  preach  may  be  guessed 
beforehand.  They  are  all  commonplace  men, 
incapable  of  entering  into  the  world-wide  aims  of 
their  L,ord.  But  where  then  are  the  representa- 
tives of  Christian  universality  to  come  from?  By 
the  nature  of  the  case  they  must  be  few,  for  they 
must  be  superior  men,  rising  above  the  average 
level  in  genius,  earnestness,  and  force,  belonging 
to  the  aristocracy  of  humanity,  the  number  of 
whom  is  always  small.  What  if  such  rare  men, 
capable  of  being  mouthpieces  of  universality, 
should  not  be  forthcoming?  Why,  then  Chris- 
tianity may  come  to  nothing  after  all,  for  want  of 
the  antagonism  which  is  the  necessary  condition 
of  historical  development.  The  risk  is  real ;  yet 
may  we  not  fall  back  on  the  consoling  thought 
that  at  every  great  crisis  the  needed  man  always 
makes  his  appearance,  if  not  sent  by  the  living 
God,  then  produced  by  the  unconscious  forces  at 
work  in  the  universe?  However  this  may  be,  the 
fact  is  that  one  adequate  representative  of  univer- 
sality did  make  his  appearance  in  due  season — 
we  might  say  two,  indeed — the  first  being  Stephen, 
the  second  Paul.  Stephen,  however,  was  only  a 
blossom  nipped  by  persecution,  so  that  of  Paul 
alone  need  we  take  account.  * 

•  Baur's  views  on  Paul,  his  life,  work,  and  writings,  are  set  forth 
in  his  work,  "  Paulus  der  Apostel  Jesu  Christi." 


128  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

That  Saul  of  Tarsus,  once  a  Pharisaic  zealot 
and  bitter  opponent  of  Christianity,  should  be 
changed  into  a  Christian,  and  sack  a  Christian  : 
not  merely  a  believer  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  but 
entering  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  a  passionate 
nature  and  all  the  logical  consistency  of  a  power- 
ful intellect  into  the  universal  aspect  of  Christ's 
teaching,  treating  that  which  had  once  been  ev- 
erything to  him — the  law — as  nothing,  and  insist- 
ing that  in  Christ  is  no  distinction  between  Jew 
and  Gentile,  but  only  a  new  humanity,  is  a  suffi- 
ciently remarkable  phenomenon.  It  is  one  of  the 
great  difficulties  which  naturalistic  criticism  has 
to  grapple  with,  for  to  account  for  Paul's  conver- 
sion on  naturalistic  principles  is  a  hard  task. 
Baur,  conscious  of  this,  did  not  attempt  to  ex- 
plain the  fact,  but  left  the  unsolved  problem  to 
other  more  adventurous  spirits.  Enough  for  him 
that  Paul  the  persecutor  was  converted  somehow. 
In  the  converted  Pharisee  was  at  length  provided 
what  was  needed  to  insure  for  Christianity  a  ca- 
reer. The  opposing  views  are  now  furnished  with 
advocates.  In  Paul  universality  has  got  a  cham- 
pion able  single-handed  to  defend  it  against  all 
coiners.  The  Judaistic  tendency,  on  the  other 
hand,  as  already  hinted,  has  numerous  if  not 
equally  able  advocates  in  the  eleven  companions 
of  Jesus.     The  state  of  the  case  is  thus  Paul  ver- 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  I2g 

sus  the  whole  body  of  the  original  apostles — that 
is,  according  to  Dr.  Baur. 

But  what  evidence  is  there  of  the  alleged  con- 
trariety between  the  eleven  on  the  one  hand  and 
Paul  on  the  other  in  their  respective  views  of  the 
Gospel  ?  If  such  diversity  existed  there  ought  to 
be  clear  traces  of  it  in  the  New  Testament.  And 
the  Tubingen  critic  tells  us  that  there  are  and 
undertakes  to  point  them  out.  He  finds  in  vari- 
ous places  plain  indications  of  conflict  between 
Paul  and  at  least  two  of  the  original  apostles — 
the  men  of  most  influence,  the  pillars  of  the 
church,  viz.,  Peter  and  John.  Of  the  opposition 
between  Paul  and  John  the  proof  is  drawn  from 
the  book  of  Revelation,  which  is  regarded  as  the 
work  of  John  the  apostle,  and  as  the  only  genuine 
Johaiinine  writing  in  the  New  Testament.  The 
Balaamites,  Nicolaitans,  or  followers  of  the  woman 
Jezebel,  who  eat  flesh  offered  to  idols,  are  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Pauline  party  in  the  churches  of  Asia 
Minor.  The  text,  Rev.  21:14,  in  which  the  num- 
ber twelve  is  applied  to  the  apostles  as  correspond- 
ing to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  evidently  ex- 
cludes Paul  from  the  apostolate.  When  the  church 
of  Ephesus  is  praised  for  testing  some  who  called 
themselves  apostles  and  were  not,  Rev.  2 : 2,  Paul 
and  his  associates  are  obviously  aimed  at. 

Of  the  opposition  between  Paul  and  Peter  tra- 
9 


130  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

ces  are  found  in  the  reference  in  the  First  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians,  to  parties  existing  among 
them,  one  of  which  named  itself  after  Paul  and 
another  after  Peter,  and  in  the  account  given  by 
Paul  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  of  his  colli- 
sion with  Peter  at  Antioch.  Both  of  these  epis- 
tles are  held  to  be  unquestionably  of  Pauline  au- 
thorship, and  therefore  absolutely  trustworthy. 
The  main  stress  of  the  argument  turns  on  the  pas- 
sage in  Gal.  2  :  11-21,  and  indeed  we  may  say  on 
the  whole  of  the  second  chapter  of  that  remarka- 
ble epistle,  from  which  it  is  inferred  that  Paul 
stood  opposed  not  only  to  Peter  but  to  the  whole 
eleven.  The  u  false  brethren,"  ver.  4,  are  held 
to  be  the  eleven.  The  phrases  "those  who  seemed 
to  be  somewhat,"  "who  seemed  to  be  pillars," 
are  taken  to  be  sneering  allusions  to  the  esteem  in 
which  the  eleven  were  held  by  the  Judaistic  party. 
The  giving  of  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  at  the 
close  of  the  conference  was,  we  are  told,  but  a  hol- 
low truce  between  two  irreconcilable  parties,  an 
agreement  that  each  party  should  continue  to  hold 
its  own  views,  and  that  they  should  divide  the 
world  between  them.  The  subsequent  scene  at 
Antioch  shows  Peter  standing  on  the  platform  of 
a  Jewish-Christian  halfness,  binding  together  faith 
and  the  ceremonial  law,  and  deeming  the  keeping 
of  the  law  necessary  to  salvation,  though  not  of 


AND   HIS  THEORY.  131 

itself  sufficient  for  salvation;  and  we  are  given  to 
understand  that  the  effect  of  Paul's  energetic  re- 
monstrance was  a  permanent  alienation  between 
him  and  Peter,  fruitful  of  evil  consequences.  One 
of  the  most  grievous  results  was  the  rise  of  a  Ju- 
daistic  Anti-Pauline  propagandism  which  assidu- 
ously carried  on  its  operations  in  all  the  churches 
founded  by  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 

Traces  of  the  alleged  antagonism  between  Paul 
and  the  original  apostles  are  discovered  in  the 
only  two  other  epistles  which,  besides  the  above- 
named,  are  recognized  as  Pauline,  2  Corinthians 
and  Romans.  In  the  former  the  expression  "su- 
perlative apostles,"  apostles  ever-so-much,*  is 
held  to  be  a  sarcastic  reference  to  the  eleven. 
The  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  though  containing 
no  express  reference  to  parties  in  the  church, 
according  to  Baur,  owed  its  origin  to  these.  His 
theory  is  that  Paul  wrote  the  epistle  to  a  church 
he  had  not  founded  or  visited,  in  which,  there- 
fore, he  had  no  personal  enemies,  that  he  might 
in  a  didactic  way  give  a  full  demonstration  of  his 
universalistic  view  of  Christianity  in  opposition 
to  Judaistic  particularism.  The  kernel  of  the 
epistle  is  thus  to  be  found  in  the  ninth,  tenth,  and 
eleventh  chapters,  in  which  the  writer  endeavors 

•  2  Cor.  11:5,  tiov  vireplcav  uttootoXuv ;  "the  chiefest  apostles  "  in 
Authorized  Version. 


132  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

to  adjust  his  Gentile  gospel  to  the  prerogatives  of 
the  Jewish  nation  as  an  elect  people. 

Such  is  the  evidence  adduced  in  proof  of  irrec- 
oncilable, or  at  least  serious  antagonism  between 
Paul  and  the  eleven  and  the  two  great  parties 
into  which  the  Apostolic  church  was  divided,  the 
universal ist  party  having  Paul  at  its  head  and 
the  Judaist  party  led  by  the  former  companions 
of  Jesus.  The  subsequent  course  of  events  is 
supposed  to  have  been  this:  After  the  controversy 
had  raged  fiercely,  for  a  time,  the  men  of  a  later 
generation  began  to  grow  weary  of  strife  and  to 
long  for  and  aim  at  a  reconciliation,  in  the  belief 
that  the  opposing  views  were  not  so  utterly  in- 
compatible as  their  fathers  had  imagined.  And 
so  it  came  to  pass  that  the  war  of  parties  ceased, 
and  the  Catholic  Church  was  formed  by  their 
union  and  a  composite  creed  framed  which  blend- 
ed together  the  watchwords  of  opposite  camps. 
Thus  the  history  of  the  church  for  a  hundred 
years,  dating  from  the  time  of  Paul,  has  three 
periods.  First,  there  is  the  period  of  controversy; 
second,  the  period  during  which  the  process  of 
conciliation  went  on;  third,  the  period  when  that 
process  reached  its  completion. 

According  to  the  theory  we  are  now  expound- 
ing, all  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  belong 
to  one   or   other  of  these   periods.      One   group 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  1 33 

sprang  out  of  the  great  controversy,  and  express 
the  views  and  passions  of  the  combatants;  a  sec- 
ond group  bear  traces  of  being  written  under  the 
influence  of  the  spirit  of  conciliation;  a  third 
speak  the  thoughts  of  an  age  when  union  had 
been  achieved  and  the  memory  of  past  strife  was 
fading  away.  All  the  writings  without  exception 
are  supposed  to  betray  the  influence  of  a  theologi- 
cal tendency,  the  only  difference  between  them 
being  the  particular  tendencies  by  which  they  are 
respectively  animated. 

First  in  time  came  the  controversial  group, 
embracing  five  books:  the  Apocalypse,  written  by 
the  apostle  John,  and  the  four  epistles  of  Paul  alone 
recognized  as  genuine,  those  to  the  Galatian,  Corin- 
thian, and  Roman  churches.  These  books  alone  of 
all  the  books  in  the  New  Testament  are  held  to  be 
of  apostolic  authorship;  and  of  course  they  were 
the  earliest  written,  from  the  simple  fact  of  their  be- 
longing to  the  period  of  controversy.  An  inexpe- 
rienced person  might  naturally  suggest  that  there 
was  an  earlier  period  still,  that  of  Christ  himself, 
and  ask  why  there  should  not  have  been  earlier 
writings,  telling  in  simple  unsophisticated  lan- 
guage the  story  of  his  life.  But  we  are  given  to 
understand  that  no  such  books  are  to  be  found  in 
the  New  Testament,  not  even  in  the  case  of  the 
Gospels.    They  also  are  writings  with  a  tendency, 


134  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN   BAUR 

and  relate  the  history  of  Jesus  with  a  distinct  col- 
oring. Their  proper  place,  in  short,  is  in  one  of 
the  next  two  groups. 

The  second  group,  wherein  traces  of  the  spirit 
of  conciliation  are  discernible,  is  a  much  larger 
one  than  the  first,  embracing  the  first  three,  com- 
monly called  Synoptical  Gospels,  Acts,  the  Epis- 
tles to  the  Ephesians,  Colossians,  and  Philippians, 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  the  Epistles  of 
James  and  Peter.  The  interest  in  connection  with 
this -group  revolves  chiefly  around  the  historical 
books — the  Synoptical  Gospels  and  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles.  With  reference  to  these,  the  the- 
ory now  under  consideration  undertakes  to  explain 
their  respective  roles  in  the  drama  of  reconciliation. 

The  first  and  third  Gospels,  which  bear  the 
names  of  Matthew  and  Luke,  had  for  their  authors 
men  belonging  to  opposite  parties,  but  each  ani- 
mated by  a  conciliatory  spirit.  The  former  was 
written  by  a  Judaist,  who  told  the  story  of  our 
Lord's  life  so  as  to  make  it  acceptable  to  Paulin- 
ists,  and  the  latter  by  a  Paulinist,  who  construct- 
ed his  narrative  in  the  same  friendly  spirit  as 
towards  Judaists,  while  contriving  to  make  it  tell 
very  decisively  in  favor  of  Gentile  Christianity. 
Both  Gospels  are  based  on  older  forms  in  which 
the  life  of  Jesus  was  presented  from  partisan 
points  of  view:  "  Matthew, "  on  a  gospel  current 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  135 

among  the  Ebionites,  called  the  Gospel  according 
to  the  Hebrews;  uL,uke,"  on  the  solitary  gospel 
acknowledged  and  used  by  Marcion,  the  Gnostic 
heretic,  the  contents  of  which  we  learn  from  a 
controversial  work  against  Marcion  by  Tertullian. 
Tertullian's  view  as  to  this  gospel  of  Marcion' s 
was  that  it  was  a  mutilated  edition  of  the  canoni- 
cal L,uke,  with  everything  omitted  that  savored  of 
Judaism  or  was  distasteful  to  a  man  who  thought 
the  Old  Testament  religion  and  Christianity  so 
different  that  they  could  not  proceed  from  the 
same  God.  The  Tubingen  theory  inverts  the 
state  of  the  case,  and  maintains  that  Marcion's 
gospel  was  earlier  than  the  canonical  Luke;  that 
in  it  the  life  of  Christ  was  related  with  a  strong 
Paulinist  bias;  and  that  at  a  later  date  a  Paulinist, 
animated  by  a  conciliatory  aim,  took  it  up,  added 
to  it,  toned  it  down,  and  so  made  it  palatable  to 
Jewish  tastes,  while  still  retaining  a  strong  flavor 
of  universalism. 

As  for  the  author  of  the  second  Gospel,  a  very 
ignoble  part  is  assigned  to  him.  He  is  supposed 
to  have  had  both  the  first  and  the  third  Gospel 
before  him,  and  to  have  compiled  his  narrative 
in  a  spirit  of  neutrality,  leaving  out  everything  in 
either  of  his  predecessors  that  leaned  too  decidedly 
to  either  side.  A  book  got  up  in  this  way  ought 
to  be  a  very  dull,  uninteresting  affair.     But  it  so 


I36  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN   BAUR 

happens  that  Mark's  narrative  is  particularly 
lively  and  graphic.  In  explanation  of  this  we 
are  told  that  the  graphic  element  has  been  intro- 
duced to  hide  the  poverty  of  an  otherwise  color- 
less recital. 

It  hardly  needs  to  be  stated  that,  according  to 
Dr.  Baur,  the  Synoptical  Gospels,  as  we  now 
have  them,  are  all  of  comparatively  late  date. 
All  books  of  a  conciliatory  tendency  must  have 
been  post-apostolic.  Luke's  Gospel,  if  made  up 
from  that  used  by  Marcion,  cannot  have  been 
written  much  before  A.  D.  150,  Marcion' s  date 
being  about  140.  Matthew  is  supposed  to  have 
been  written  some  twenty  years  earlier  than  Luke, 
and  Mark  rather  later  than  the  middle  of  the  sec- 
ond century. 

The  mode  in  which  the  theory  deals  with  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  is  very  naive.  It  is  represent- 
ed as  an  apologetic  work,  having  for  its  aim  to 
bring  Judaists  and  Paulinists  into  fraternal  rela- 
tions, and  adopting  for  this  end  the  expedient  of 
making  Peter,  the  head  of  the  Judaistic  party,  act 
as  much  as  possible  after  the  manner  of  Paul,  and 
Paul,  in  the  second  part,  as  much  as  possible  after 
the  manner  of  Peter.  The  idea  that  the  work 
had  an  apologetic  aim  had  been  previously  pro- 
mulgated by  Schneckenburger,  *  who,  however, 

••  In  a  work  on  the  aim  of  the  Acts  ("uber  den  Zweck  der 
Apostelgeschichte."     1841). 


AND   HIS  THEORY.  1 37 

had  no  intention  of  calling  in  question  its  histor- 
ical reliableness,  his  view  being  that  the  aim  of 
the  writer  influenced  him  only  in  the  selection  of 
his  material.  But  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Baur  what 
Schneckenburger  called  selection  became  iuven- 
tion.  That  some  historical  facts  are  contained  in 
the  book,  possibly  derived  from  manuscripts  of 
Luke,  he  did  not  deny;  but  in  many  sections  he 
saw  nothing  else  than  pure  inventions  to  serve  a 
purpose.  He  supposes  the  work  to  have  been 
written  at  a  time  when  the  opposed  parties,  hav- 
ing already  made  considerable  approximations 
and  being  desirous  of  complete  union,  needed  only 
to  be  told  that  the  notion  of  a  radical  antagonism 
between  Peter  and  Paul  was  a  mistake,  that  in 
views  and  public  action  they  were  very  much 
alike,  and  that  there  had  always  been  a  good  un- 
derstanding between  them.  The  book,  he  says, 
<(is  the  conciliatory  effort  and  overture  of  peace 
of  a  Paulinist,  who  would  purchase  the  recogni- 
tion of  Gentile  Christianity  by  Jewish  Christians 
by  concessions  to  Judaism  in  the  name  of  his  own 
party. ' '  * 

It  would  be  tedious  to  go  into  detail  to  illus- 
trate the  working  out  of  this  amiable  programme. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  story  of  Cornelius  is  sup- 
posed to  be  invented  in  order  to  represent  Peter 

•  "  Gcschichte  dcr  Christlichen  Kirclie,"  p.  128. 


I38  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN   BAUR 

as  equally  with  Paul  a  believer  in  the  universal 
destination  of  the  gospel,  and  in  the  consequent 
antiquation  of  the  ceremonial  law.  The  account 
of  the  Council  of  Jerusalem  was  concocted  to 
make  it  appear  that  on  the  question  regarding 
circumcision  the  elder  apostles  and  Paul  were  in 
perfect  accord.  Even  the  story  of  Simon  Magus 
is  held  to  be  an  invention  to  meet  a  difficulty  in 
the  way  of  mediation;  for  the  original  of  Simon 
Magus,  we  are  assured,  is  the  apostle  Paul.  Under 
that  name  he  figures  in  the  Clementines,  a  writing 
proceeding  from  the  Judaist  party,  and  full  of  bit- 
terness against  Paul,  who,  under  the  disguise  of 
Simon  Magus,  appears  as  the  enemy  of  the  gos- 
pel, following  in  the  footsteps  of  Peter  and  stri- 
ving to  mar  his*work  as  an  apostle.  The  author 
of  Acts  being  acquainted  with  the  Simon  myth, 
and  aware  how  current  it  was,  could  not  ignore  it; 
but  to  neutralize  its  effect  as  a  story  fitted  to  per- 
petuate hostility  against  Paul  and  stereotype  ex- 
isting alienations,  he  adopted  the  expedient  of 
bringing  the  apostle  Peter  and  Simon  Magus  into 
contact  before  Paul  appeared  on  the  stage  of  his- 
tory, to  suggest  the  inference  that  the  identifica- 
tion of  Simon  with  Paul  was  another  historical 
blunder ! 

The  last  group  of  New  Testament  writings, 
representing  the  period  of  completed  reconcilia- 


AND    HIS   THEORY.  1 39 

tion,  embraces  the  Pastoral  Epistles — those  to  Tim- 
othy and  Titus — and  tine,  fourth  Gospel 'and  the  epis- 
tles ascribed  to  Jo  Jin.  In  common  with  the  epistles 
to  Ephesians,  Colossians,  and  Philippians,  the  pas- 
torals have  for  their  task  to  deal  with  the  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  the  construction  or  consolidation 
of  the  catholic  church  arising  from  the  heretical 
movements  that  were  so  rife  in  the  second  cen- 
tury, those  especially  associated  with  the  name  of 
the  Gnostics.  But  they  deal  with  the  difficulty  in 
another  way.  The  epistles  to  Ephesians,  Colos- 
sians, and  Philippians  deal  with  Gnostic  error 
doctrinally,  appropriating  whatever  was  in  affin- 
ity with  Christianity  and  rejecting  the  rest.  The 
Pastoral  Epistles,  on  the  other  hand,  deal  with 
Gnostic  error  ecclesiastically,  seeking  to  fortify 
the  church  against  heretical  influence  by  the  es- 
tablishment of  an  ecclesiastical  hierarchy.  The 
church  could  not  be  strong  as  long  as  she  was 
without  an  organization  binding  her  into  a  com- 
pact body,  and  the  means  of  unity  was  found  in 
the  Episcopate;  and  the  pastorals  are  devoted  to 
the  task  of  erecting  the  episcopal  system.  From 
this  view  of  their  origin  it  follows  of  course  that 
these  epistles  could  not  have  been  written  by  Paul, 
or  indeed  earlier  than  the  middle  of  the  second 
century. 

Last  in  time,  though  not  in  importance,  comes 


140  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

the  fourth  Gospel.  This  book,  according  to  Dr. 
Baur,  was  written  by  a  CJiristian  Gnostic,  who  in 
his  idea  of  Christianity  soared  high  above  the  an- 
tagonisms of  the  past  and  welded  them  together 
into  an  indissoluble  unity.  In  place  of  apostles 
contending  together  for  sovereignty  comes,  in  this 
Gospel,  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  universal  Christian 
principle  common  to  both  Peter  and  Paul  and  the 
tendencies  they  represent.  In  the  Johannine  the- 
ology Judaism  and  Paulinism  lose  their  distinctive 
features  and  are  merged  in  a  higher  unity.  Faith, 
in  the  fourth  Gospel,  is  a  principle  of  fundamental 
importance  not  less  than  in  the  Pauline  system; 
but  the  object  of  faith  is  not  Christ's  death,  but 
Christ's  person,  Christ  being  viewed  as  the  Logos 
incarnate,  yea,  God  himself.  Then  in  the  fourth 
Gospel  faith,  however  important,  is  still  subordi- 
nate to  love.  Love  is  the  highest  idea  in  the 
Johannine  theology.  Then  as  for  the  law,  of 
which  so  much  is  said  by  Paul  and  whose  claims 
he  shows  himself  so  anxious  to  satisfy  in  his  the- 
ory of  salvation,  in  the  fourth  Gospel  it  is  spoken 
of  as  something  antiquated,  as  something  with 
which  the  Christian  has  nothing  to  do  and  which 
has  no  claims  to  be  considered.  In  love,  faith  and 
works  find  their  higher  unity  and  lose  their  sepa- 
rate existence;  and  the  particularism  of  Judaism, 
with  all  the  antagonisms  connected  with  it,  dis- 


AND   HIS  THEORY.  141 

appears  in  the  general  contrast  of  the  two  opposed 
principles  of  light  and  darkness  which  form  the 
background  of  the  writer's  theory  of  the  universe. 
Thus  this  Gospel  represents  the  final  stage  of  the 
process  of  development  in  which  the  end  returns 
to  the  beginning,  giving,  instead  of  the  immediate 
unity  of  opposites  in  Christ's  teaching,  a  unity 
mediated  by  conflict,  and  all  the  richer  on  that 
account.  The  probable  date  of  the  Gospel  is  al- 
leged to  be  between  160  and  170. 

Such  in  brief  outline  is  the  theory.  In  pro- 
ceeding now  to  criticise  this  theory  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  say  that  we  are  fully  sensible  of  its  clever- 
ness and  boldness  and  of  the  vast  learning  and  in- 
finite ingenuity  with  which  it  is  supported.  These 
are  altogether  very  imposing  and  fascinating,  and 
it  takes  a  little  time  for  the  admiring  reader  of  Dr. 
Baur's  books  to  recover  himself.  But  by-and-by 
it  becomes  apparent  that  the  theory  has  many 
vulnerable  points. 

ASSUMPTIONS   UNDERLYING   HIS   THEORY. 

In  the  first  place,  while  professedly  historical 
and  critical  in  its  method,  the  theory  is  based 
upon  two  philosophical  assumptions,  one  being 
that  the  miraculous  is  impossible,  the  other  that 
all  historical  development  must  proceed  according 
to  the  law  of  Hegelian  lo^ic.     The  former  needs 


142  FERDINAND  CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

only  to  be  stated;  on  the  latter  a  few  sentences  of 
explanation  may  be  offered. 

In  the  foregoing  exposition  we  have  kept  He- 
gelianism  well  in  the  background,  partly  that  we 
mi^ht  not  trouble  our  readers  with  unfamiliar  and 
repulsive  phrases,  and  partly  injustice  to  Dr.  Baur; 
for  it  would  not  be  fair  to  suggest  or  imply  that 
he  brought  a  cut-and-dried  a  priori  philosophy  to 
his  task,  and  then  proceeded  to  discover  or  invent 
facts  to  suit  his  conclusions.  Nevertheless,  it  is 
the  simple  truth  that  the  Tubingen  theory  is  He- 
gelian not  only  in  form  but  in  spirit.  The  account 
given  of  the  origin  of  Christianity  is  as  completely 
dominated  by  the  Hegelian  law  of  development  by 
antagonism  as  if  the  author  had  set  himself  this 
problem:  "  On  the  principles  of  Hegelianism  the 
course  taken  by  Christianity  must  have  been  as 
follows :  In  Christ,  the  founder  of  the  new  reli- 
gion, must  meet  two  principles  opposed  to  each 
other.  In  a  subsequent  stage  these  opposed  prin- 
ciples must  pass  into  a  state  of  open  conflict,  each 
becoming  the  distinctive  watchword  of  a  party. 
Then,  finally,  the  two  principles  must  pass  from 
a  state  of  antagonism  into  a  state  of  reconcilia- 
tion, and  become  again,  as  at  the  commencement, 
united,  constituting  together  in  developed  form 
the  faith  of  the  catholic  church.  Find  facts  to 
verify  this  hypothesis. " 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  1 43 

The  inevitable  consequence  of  this  philosophic 
bias  is  apparent  in  Baur's  writings.  The  account 
given  of  the  origin  of  Christianity  and  its  canoni- 
cal literature  is  not  history,  but  a  gross  caricature. 
It  is,  to  say  the  least,  very  improbable  that  the 
real  course  of  history  should  follow  so  closely  the 
requirements  of  a  philosophical  system.  The  at- 
tempt to  make  it  appear  as  if  it  did  will  almost 
certainly  transform  the  actors  in  the  historical 
drama  into  puppets,  mouthpieces  of  tendencies, 
passive  instruments  of  "the  Idea."  Such,  in- 
deed, is  the  well-known  vice  of  the  Hegelian 
method  of  handling  history.  Competent  and  even 
friendly  critics  have  remarked  that  on  that  method 
historical  characters  are  not  real  men,  but  ghostly 
generalities.  Logic  is  the  all-controlling  power. 
Logical  categories  of  the  widest  kind:  being  in  it- 
self, being  for  self,  being  in  and  for  self,  the  in- 
difference, the  difference,  the  unity  of  the  differ- 
ence and  the  indifference,  and  so  forth,  take  the 
place  of  the  historical  realities,  and  are  so  ope- 
rated with  that  history  has  all  the  blood  sucked 
out  of  it,  and  historical  characters  become  dead- 
idea  schemes.* 

Thus  Christ  himself,  in  Baur's  hands,  becomes 
little  more  than  a  centre  of  unity  for  two  opposed 

•  So  Schwartz,  in  a  work  on  the  history  of  recent  German  the- 
ology. 


144  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BATJR 

tendencies — the  teacher  of  a  universal  ethical  re- 
ligion and  a  claimant  for  the  honors  of  Messiah - 
ship.  Anything  additional,  putting  more  con- 
tents into  the  person  and  teaching  of  Jesus  than 
suits  the  initial  stage  of  development,  must  be 
reckoned  spurious.  If  we  find  Jesus  in  any  of  the 
Gospels  claiming  to  be  a  superhuman  being,  such 
texts  may  with  the  utmost  confidence  be  set  down 
as  spurious  :  such  a  thought  could  not  possibly 
belong  to  the  initial  stage,  but  only  to  the  final, 
when  the  human  Messiah  had  developed  into  a 
Deity  through  the  love  and  reverence  of  his  fol- 
lowers. For  the  same  reason  all  texts  concerning 
the  atoning  significance  of  Christ's  death  must  be 
relegated  to  a  later  time. 

In  the  same  way  all  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament  books  become  ghosts  instead  of  living 
men.  None  of  them  are  allowed  to  tell  their  story 
in  good  faith  and  natural  simplicity.  Every  one 
of  them  must  be  the  conscious  constant  mouth- 
piece of  a  theological  tendency  either  of  the  an- 
tagonisms or  of  the  conciliatory  movement  or  of 
the  completed  union.  Paul  must  be  a  hot-headed 
universalian,  John  a  bigoted  Judaist,  the  writer  of 
Acts  the  deliberate  inventor  of  a  historical  ro- 
mance intended  to  serve  the  purposes  of  concilia- 
tion, and  so  on  through  the  whole  list.  In  short, 
whatever  be  the  truth  as  to  the  allegation  that  the 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  I45 

New  Testament  books  are  all  tendency-writings, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Tubingen  theorists 
are  tendency-critics,  have  tendency  on  the  brain, 
so  to  speak  ;  insomuch  that  one  who  has  become 
familiar  with  their  method  can  tell  beforehand 
what  they  will  say  about  any  particular  book. 

Thus  far  of  general  characteristics.  I^et  us 
now  look  at  some  points  in  detail,  and  first  at  the 
account  given  of  the  initial  stage.  Baur's  repre- 
sentation of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  is  not  altogether 
false.  It  is  especially  true  in  so  far  as  it  makes 
spirituality  and  universality  essential  characteris- 
tics of  the  Christian  religion  as  exhibited  by  its 
Founder.  These  were  indeed  the  grand  features 
of  the  kingdom  he  proclaimed.  But  the  theory 
errs  in  tracing  these  to  Gentile  sources.  The  po- 
litical universality  of  Rome  and  the  ethical  sub- 
jectivity of  Greece  did  not  give  Jesus  his  doctrine, 
but  merely  prepared  the  world  to  receive  it.  He 
was  not  a  slavish  debtor  even  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment either  for  these  parts  of  his  teaching  or  for 
his  doctrine  of  God.  His  great  thoughts  of  the 
divine  Fatherhood,  and  of  the  dignity  of  man  as 
God's  son,  and  of  the  kingdom  of  love,  have  their 
roots  in  Old  Testament  prophecy.  Nevertheless 
their  marvellous  originality  is  undeniable.  As  for 
the  assertion  that  Jesus  owed  his  ideal  of  human 
life  to  the  Essenes,  it  is  utterly  baseless.     In  the 

10 


I46  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

first  place,  there  is  not  the  slightest  trace  of  a  his- 
torical connection  between  him  and  the  Essenes; 
in  the  second  place,  it  is  not  the  fact  that  his  view 
of  life  is  ascetic.  The  morality  of  the  gospel  is 
heroic,  abstinence  being  enjoined  not  as  a  virtue 
in  itself,  but  as  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  devotion 
to  the  kingdom.  The  ideal  of  Christian  character 
is  not  the  monk,  but  the  soldier.  The  two  coin- 
cide in  particular  acts,  but  how  diverse  the  spirit 
in  which  the  same  acts  are  performed! 

On  the  other  hand,  the  assertion  that  Jesus 
claimed  and  accepted  the  title  of  Messiah  is  un- 
questionably true.  It  is  an  important  admission 
on  Dr.  Baur's  part,  for  it  is  fatal  both  to  his  the- 
ory and  to  that  of  Strauss.  To  the  former  because 
a  Messiah  was  required  by  public  expectation  to 
play  the  part  of  a  miracle- worker  in  order  to  gain 
credence — a  part  not  easy  to  play  successfully  if 
miracles  are  impossible.  To  the  latter,  because, 
according  to  the  mythical  hypothesis,  miraculous 
narratives  are  the  product  of  faith  in  the  Messiah- 
ship  of  Jesus;  whereas  if  Jesus  really  claimed  to 
be  the  Messiah,  faith  in  his  Messianic  claims  must 
have  been  the  effect  of  miracles,  real  or  reputed. 

NO  ANTAGONISM    BETWEEN  THE   APOSTLES. 

Passing  now  to  the  stage  of  controversy  when, 
according  to  the  theory,  two  parties  arose,   one 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  I47 

fighting  for  a  Christianity  which  was  merely  a 
reformed  Judaism,  having  for  its  creed  that  the 
man  Jesus  was  the  Christ;  the  other  contending 
for  a  world-wide  Christianity  independent  of  Ju- 
daism— the  point  of  importance  here  is,  how  far 
is  the  alleged  contrariety  between  the  original 
apostles  and  Paul  a  matter  of  fact?  Now  the  al- 
leged radical  antagonism  is  antecedently  very  im- 
probable, even  if  only  for  the  simple  reason  that 
the  eleven  had  been  for  years  the  companions  of 
Jesus  the  teacher,  Dr.  Baur  himself  being  witness, 
of  a  universal  religion.  Is  it  credible  that  the 
men  who  "had  been  with  Jesus"  so  long  re- 
mained utterly  insensible  to  the  Master's  spirit  of 
catholic  human  sympathy  and  to  the  universalis- 
tic  genius  of  the  new  religious  movement?  That 
were  to  say  that  they  were  totally  unworthy  to  be 
Christ's  disciples,  and  that  the  careful  training  to 
which  they  had  been  subjected  was  a  complete 
failure.  Sensible  of  this,  Ritschl,  once  himself 
an  adherent  of  Dr.  Baur,  speaks  of  it  as  histori- 
cally impossible  u  that  the  view  of  the  autonomy 
and  universality  of  Christianity,  which  filled  the 
inner  life  of  Jesus,  remained  hid  from  his  personal 
disciples."* 

But  what  of  the  proof  adduced  to  show  that, 
whatever  might  be  a  priori  to  be  looked  for,  such 

•  "  Die  Entstchung  der  Altkatholischen  Kirche,"  p.  47. 


I48  FERDINAND  CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

contrariety  did  exist  as  matter  of  fact  ?  Speaking 
generally,  the  interpretation  put  upon  the  texts 
cited  must  be  pronounced  strained.  Such  is  the 
opinion  of  even  theologians  altogether  free  from 
orthodox  bias,  naturalistic  in  their  philosophy, 
and  followers  of  Baur  to  a  certain  extent.  Keim, 
e.  g.,  entirely  dissents  from  Baur's  reading  of  the 
second  chapter  of  Galatians,  holding  that  the  ori- 
ginal apostles  did  not  insist  on  the  circumcision 
of  Gentile  converts,  and  that  it  was  owing  to 
their  generous  and  magnanimous  bearing  that 
the  church  was  brought  to  accept  the  Jerusalem 
compact.*  The  scene  at  Antioch,  read  without 
bias,  does  not  at  all  bear  out  the  notion  of  an  oppo- 
sition in  principle  between  Paul  and  Peter.  What 
Paul  charges  his  brother  disciple  with  is  not  hold- 
ing Judaistic  opinions,  but  hypocrisy,  inconsisten- 
cy in  conduct,  through  moral  weakness,  with  his 
avowed  principles,  which,  as  described  by  Paul, 
are  identical  with  his  own.  To  call  Peter  a  Ju- 
daist  on  the  ground  of  that  passage  would  be  as 
unreasonable  as  to  call  him  a  traitor  because 
through  fear  of  man  he  denied  a  Master  whom 
all  the  time  he  dearly  loved.  In  both  crises  of 
his  history  Peter  revealed  the  same  moral  weak- 
ness:  in  the  earlier  instance  denying  his  Lord 
through  fear  of  the  ridicule  of  servant-maids;  in 
*  Vide  "  Aus  dem  Urchristenthum ;  4  Der  Apostel  Konvent." 


AND   HIS  THEORY.  I49 

the  latter,  turning  his  back  on  Gentile  Christians, 
with  whom  he  had  previously  had  no  scruples  in 
freely  associating,  through  fear  of  Judaistic  bigots 
from  Jerusalem. 

If  the  attempted  proof  breaks  down  in  the 
texts  cited  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  it  is 
hardly  worth  while  examining  the  weaker  links 
in  the  chain  of  evidence  taken  from  other  places. 

In  denying  the  alleged  Judaistic  bias  of  Peter, 
James,  John,  and  the  rest  of  the  eleven,  we  do 
not  mean  to  say  that  they  were  enthusiastic  ad- 
vocates of  Christian  universality,  like  Paul,  the 
apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  They  certainly  were 
not.  They  passed  through  no  intense  religious 
experience  like  his,  fitted  to  make  them  such. 
Their  position  was  that  of  men  brought  gradually 
to  acquiesce  calmly  though  decidedly  in  the  ad- 
mission of  Gentile  believers  to  the  full  fellowship 
of  the  church,  on  the  sole  ground  of  faith  in 
Christ,  apart  from  circumcision.  They  accepted 
the  situation  as  the  will  of  God  clearly  manifested 
by  events,  and  as  in  accordance  with  the  whole 
spirit  of  their  Master's  teaching.  They  did  not, 
like  Paul,  throw  themselves  into  the  new  situa- 
tion with  passionate  earnestness.  Therefore  it  was 
that  they  did  not  then  at  least  desire  to  be  apostles 
to  the  Gentiles.  They  felt  that  they  were  not  fit- 
ted to  become  signally  successful  agents  in  that 


I50  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

sphere.  They  humbly  acknowledged  that  they 
were  not  called  to  that  work.  Their  judgment 
was  wise  as  well  as  honorable  to  themselves ;  for 
something  more  than  acceptance  of  the  situation 
is  wanted  in  the  apostles  of  a  religious  revolution. 
When  the  Christian  faith  took  root  in  the  Gentile 
city  of  Antioch,  the  good  genial  Barnabas  knew 
that  there  was  just  one  man  who  was  supremely 
qualified  to  guide  the  movement.  He  went  to 
Tarsus  to  seek  Saul.     Acts  11  :  25. 

Another  admission  must  be  made.  While  se- 
rious conflict  of  opinion  between  Paul  and  the 
eleven  is  denied,  it  is  not  denied  that  there  were 
grave  differences  of  opinion  within  the  church. 
But  the  apostles  being  at  one,  such  contrariety  of 
view  can  be  regarded  only  as  a  fact  of  subordinate 
importance,  wholly  unfit  to  support  a  huge  super- 
structure of  criticism  like  that  presented  in  the 
literature  of  the  Tubingen  theory.  That  criti- 
cism we  must  now  briefly  notice. 

TUBINGEN   CRITICISM    EXAMINED. 

As  already  remarked,  the  general  character  of 
the  Tubingen  criticism  of  the  New  Testament 
books  is  that  it  carries  the  hypothesis  of  tendency 
to  extravagant  lengths.  Every  writer  must  be  the 
mouthpiece  of  some  phase  in  the  great  dialectic 
movement  which  is  to  have  for  its  issue  the  crea- 


AND    HIS  THEORY.  15  I 

tion  of  the  Christian  creed  and  of  the  catholic 
church.  The  penalty  of  all  exaggeration  is  reac- 
tion, and  accordingly  the  conclusions  of  the  Tu- 
bingen criticism  have  been  largely  modified  by 
later  investigations  as  conducted  by  men  untram- 
melled by  orthodox  traditions,  such  as  Keim,  Re- 
nan,  Hilgenfeld,  Pfleiderer.  Recent  critics,  e.  g., 
are  generally  agreed  that  besides  the  four  epistles 
recognized  as  genuine  by  Dr.  Baur,  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  other  epistles  ascribed  to  Paul  must 
be  acknowledged  to  be  genuine.  Serious  doubt, 
even  in  skeptical  quarters,  now  hovers  only  over 
the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  and  the  Pastoral 
Epistles. 

In  like  manner  the  historicity,  the  bona  fides, 
and  the  artlessness  of  the  Gospels,  at  least  the 
Synoptics,  receive  from  most  recent  inquirers  an 
ampler  homage.  Dr.  Baur  himself  recognized  the 
comparative  reliableness  of 'Matthew  as  a  source  of 
information  concerning  the  life  and  ministry  of 
Jesus,  so  that  little  need  be  said  on  that  topic. 
His  views  respecting  Mark  and  Luke  are  now  gen- 
erally discredited.  Mark,  instead  of  being  the 
latest,  is  now  by  most  critics  deemed  the  earliest 
of  the  Synoptical  Gospels,  and  valued  as  a  fresh, 
vivid  presentation  of  the  leading  scenes  in  the 
personal  ministry,  taken  from  the  mouth  of  an 
eve-witness.     The  Tubingen  view  of  L,uke,  ac- 


152  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

cording  to  which  it  is  a  revision  of  an  earlier  form 
of  the  gospel  known  as  Marcion's,  is  finally  ex- 
ploded. Even  the  author  of  u  Supernatural  Reli- 
gion" confesses  himself  convinced  by  the  reason- 
ing of  Dr.  Sanday,  in  his  thorough  discussion  of 
the  question  in  his  valuable  work  on  "  The  Gos- 
pels in  the  Second  Century."  When  he  yields 
the  point  the  most  skeptical  may  be  satisfied  that 
there  is  no  room  for  even  plausible  contention 
against  the  position  that  in  the  canonical  Luke 
we  have  the  original  form  of  the  third  Gos- 
pel. 

This  Gospel,  according  to  Dr.  Baur,  is  to  a 
very  great  extent  influenced  in  its  representation 
of  the  evangelic  history  by  a  Paulinist  or  Gentile 
bias.  Proofs  of  this  he  finds  in  certain  divergen- 
ces from  Matthew,  assumed  to  be  the  more  trust- 
worthy account.  They  are  the  following:  Mat- 
thew knows  only  of  one  scene  of  Christ's  minis- 
try, Galilee;  Luke  tells  of  two  ministries,  one  in 
Galilee,  another  in  Samaria.  Samaria  represents 
the  Gentile  world,  and  the  Samaritan  mission  is 
an  invention.  Besides  the  mission  of  the  twelve, 
Luke  relates  the  mission  of  the  seventy,  and,  as  if 
to  make  it  appear  the  more  important,  he  borrows 
from  the  earlier  a  large  part  of  the  instructions 
given  to  the  Galilean  evangelists  and  attaches 
them  to  the  later.      The  seventy  represent  the 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  I  53 

Gentile  nations,  supposed  to  be  equal  in  number, 
and  their  mission  is  a  pure  invention  to  give  the 
Gentile  mission  of  later  days  a  footing  in  the  life 
of  Jesus.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  as  reported 
in  Matthew,  is  broken  up  by  Luke  and  dispersed 
over  his  pages,  as  if  to  make  the  ordination  of  the 
twelve  seem  an  event  of  little  significance. 

These  are  plausibilities,  but  little  more.  As 
to  the  first,  it  is  not  the  intention  of  the  third 
evangelist  to  relate  a  formal  and  elaborate  minis- 
try on  Samaritan  ground.  The  utmost  that  can 
be  said  is  that  he  introduces  some  stray  Samari- 
tan incidents  in  themselves  perfectly  credible.  A 
Paulinistic  bias  may  have  led  him  to  introduce 
into  his  narrative  these  incidents  found  in  his 
sources.  If  so,  we  should  be  thankful  for  his 
Paulinism,  that  is,  his  keen  interest  in  Gentile 
Christianity,  to  which  we  owe  precious  fragments 
that  we  should  have  been  sorry  to  lose.  The 
mission  of  the  seventy  has  its  difficulties,  chiefly 
this,  that  it  is  not  easy  to  make  room  and  scope 
for  it  at  the  stage  of  the  history  at  which  it  comes 
in.  The  best  way  of  dealing  with  it  is  to  treat  it 
as  not  more,  but  less,  important  than  the  mission 
of  the  twelve,  and  to  regard  the  distribution  of 
the  words  of  Jesus  between  the  two  missions  as 
due  to  the  way  in  which  they  were  given  in 
Luke's  sources.      Finally,  the  dispersion  of  the 


154  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

materials  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  raises  the 
question  :  Did  Luke  disperse  or  did  Matthew  col- 
lect? The  one  hypothesis  is  as  legitimate  as  the 
other. 

The  opinion  of  dispassionate  critics,  who  have 
no  theory  to  make  out,  is  that  the  third  evange- 
list was  a  candid  chronicler  who,  in  all  good  faith, 
made  the  best  use  of  the  materials  at  his  com- 
mand in  the  various  documents  to  which  he  al- 
ludes at  the  beginning  of  his  Gospel.  He  was 
certainly  not  a  dry  historian  who  felt  no  religious 
interest  in  what  he  wrote.  He  rejoiced  to  believe 
that  the  gospel  of  Jesus  was  emphatically  a  gos- 
pel of  grace,  and  therefore  a  gospel  for  social  out- 
casts and  for  Gentiles;  and  he  was  careful  in  the 
selection  of  his  materials  to  make  this  conspicu- 
ous. Thereby  his  Gospel  has  pnly  gained  in  spir- 
itual value  without  losing  in  historical  reliable* 
ness. 

A  similar  view  is  to  be  taken  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  on  good  grounds  regarded  as  of  identical 
authorship  with  the  third  Gospel.  The  Tubingen 
view  of  this  book  stands  or  falls  with  the  alleged 
antagonism  between  Peter  and  Paul.  If  there 
was  no  antagonism,  then  there  was  no  need  for 
invention  to  make  Peter  appear  in  his  public  con- 
duct like  Paul.  The  behavior  ascribed  to  Peter 
in  the  first  part  of  the  book,  as,  for  example,  in 


AND   HIS  THEORY.  1 55 

the  story  of  Cornelius,  then  becomes  quite  natural 
and  credible.  The  invention  hypothesis  is  not  in 
keeping  with  the  reliable  character  of  the  book  at 
those  points  in  the  narrative  where  we  have  it  in 
our  power  to  test  its  accuracy.  Dr.  Baur  and  his 
supporters,  indeed,  think  otherwise,  and  endeavor 
to  show  that  the  statements  of  Acts,  wherever  they 
can  be  controlled,  are  altogether  untrustworthy. 
Their  chief  instance  is  the  narrative  of  the  coun- 
cil at  Jerusalem  in  Acts  15,  which  is  declared  to 
be  utterly  irreconcilable  with  Paul's  statements 
in  ^Galatians  2.  Now  we  do  not  affirm  that  the 
harmonizing  of  the  two  accounts  presents  no  dif- 
ficulties, but  we  do  assert  that  there  are  no  such 
differences  as  justify  the  position  that  the  author 
of  Acts  has  falsified  history  to  present  an  aspect  of 
agreement  between  the  eleven  and  Paul  which 
was  not  real.  The  historian  speaks  of  a  public 
meeting;  the  apostle  of  a  private  conference.  It 
is  intrinsically  probable  that  there  were  both  in 
connection  with  a  matter  of  grave  importance ; 
that  neither  writer  should  mention  both  is  not 
surprising;  that  the  historian  should  refer  to  the 
public  meeting,  and  the  apostle  to  the  private 
conference,  with  whose  proceedings  only  those 
present  were  conversant,  and  on  whose  proceed- 
ings his  purpose  in  writing  led  him  to  lay  special 
stress,  was  most  natural.     The  historian  knows 


156  FERDINAND  CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

of  no  difference  of  opinion  between  the  eleven  and 
Paul ;  on  the  contrary,  he  represents  Peter  and 
James  as  taking  the  lead  in  bringing  the  meeting 
to  adopt  a  resolution  favorable  to  Gentile  liberties. 
Paul  says  that  after  he  had  explained  his  view  of 
the  gospel  to  the  eleven  or  the  leading  men  among 
them,  they  "added  nothing"  to  him,  that  is,  gave 
no  additional  instructions,  did  not  treat  his  gos- 
pel as  defective  and  requiring  supplement.  They 
might  have  had  their  anxieties  before  conference, 
making  explanations  necessary;  but  the  explana- 
tions given,  Paul  informs  us,  were  deemed  quite 
satisfactory.  In  view  of  these  facts  the  verdict  of 
Reuss  seems  thoroughly  justified  : 

"The  author  of  the  Acts  merits  not  the  re- 
proach of  having  altered  the  facts  to  make  them 
speak  in  favor  of  his  view,  but  gliding  more  light- 
ly over  the  opposition  Paul  encountered  at  Jeru- 
salem, his  aim  was  to  insist  more  upon  the  result 
obtained;  while  Paul,  preoccupied  with  the  need 
of  raising  the  question  to  the  height  of  principles, 
is  led  to  insist  more  on  the  efforts  required  to  vin- 
dicate principles."* 

The  apologetic  theory  of  the  book,  as  distinct 
from  the  invention  hypothesis,  is,  whether  true 
or  false,  at  all  events  quite  legitimate.  To  assim- 
ilate, by  selection  of  materials,  the  public  conduct 

•  "  Theologie  Chr6tienne,"  vol.  II.  p.  335. 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  15/ 

of  Peter  and  Paul  might  conceivably  be  one  aim 
of  the  writer.  For  though  there  was  no  radical 
contrariety  between  the  views  of  Christianity  held 
by  the  leaders  of  the  church,  there  certainly  were 
two  parties  in  the  church,  and  we  can  imagine 
the  author  of  the  Acts  animated  by  a  praisewor- 
thy desire  to  make  his  narrative  serve  an  irenical 
purpose.  At  the  same  time  we  do  not  think  that 
this  motive  exercised  a  very  decisive  influence 
on  the  composition  of  the  book.  That  its  author 
was  guided  by  a  particular  interest  we  have  no 
doubt.  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  as  in  the  third 
Gospel,  it  is  easy  to  recognize  the  influence  of  a 
desire  to  show  that  the  gospel  was  for  mankind, 
not  for  Jews  only.  The  writer  is  with  all  his 
heart  a  believer  in  Pauline  universality;  but  his 
interest  therein  is  religious,  not  controversial.  A 
Gentile  himself,  he  is  thankful  to  know  that  to 
the  Gentiles  God  has  granted  eternal  life,  and  he 
writes  to  a  friend  who  shares  the  same  sympa- 
thies. Even  had  there  been  no  difference  of  opin- 
ion between  Jewish  and  Gentile  Christians  as  to 
the  continued  obligation  of  the  law,  he  might 
have  shown  a  not  less  lively  interest  in  the  great 
truth  that  through  Christ  had  come  into  the  world 
a  benefit  for  the  whole  human  race — a  religion 
forming  the  basis  of  a  new  humanity,  and  des- 
tined in  its  onward  course  to  unite  men  into  a 


158  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN   BAUR 

holy  brotherhood,  having  one  Father  in  heaven 
and  one  hope  of  eternal  salvation.  Surely  it  does 
not  need  the  earnality  of  religious  contention  to 
invest  such  a  truth  with  the  power  of  awakening 
enthusiasm  !  Can  we  not  conceive  a  Gentile 
Christian  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  Apos- 
tolic church,  from  its  first  beginnings  in  Jerusa- 
lem to  its  diffusion  throughout  Asia  and  Europe, 
tracing  its  steady  advance,  always  keeping  in 
view  its  ultimate  destination  as  a  religion  for  the 
whole  earth,  without  having  any  other  end  in 
view  than  just  to  tell  the  thrilling  story  ? 

In  connection  with  the  fourth  Gospel  we  shall 
only  notice  very  briefly  what  may  be  called  the 
chief  argument  of  Dr.  Baur  against  Johannine 
authorship,  based  on  internal  evidence.  It  is 
drawn  from  the  Christology  of  this  Gospel. 

The  view  of  the  person  of  Christ  therein  pre- 
sented is  held  to  be  much  too  developed  to  be 
found  in  any  writing  emanating  from  an  apostle. 
Baur  recognizes  three  distinct  types  of  doctrine 
in  the  New  Testament  as  to  the  import  of  Chris- 
tianity in  general  and  the  person  of  Christ  in  par- 
ticular. The  first  type  is  that  according  to  which 
Christianity  is  simply  Judaism  spiritualized,  and 
Jesus  the  Messiah,  Son  of  God  in  the  Messianic 
sense  and  by  his  death,  founder  of  a  new  covenant 
for  the  remission  of  sins.     This  type  is  represent- 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  1 59 

ed  by  the  Synoptic  Gospels,  and  especially  by 
Matthew.  The  second  is  that  in  which  Christian- 
ity stands  in  opposition  to  the  Law,  and  Christ 
is  not  only  the  Messiah,  but  the  Lord  of  the  com- 
munity, object  at  once  of  Christian  faith  and  wor- 
ship, yet  nothing  more  than  a  man,  a  man  deified, 
the  second  Adam,  the  spiritual,  heavenly  man. 
This  is  the  Pauline  type  of  Christology.  The 
third  is  that  in  which  the  opposition  between  Law 
and  Gospel  is  lost  in  a  higher  unity,  and  Christ 
ceases  to  be  a  mere  man,  or  even  properly  a  man 
at  all,  but  as  the  Logos  is  identified  wTith  the  ab- 
solute essence  of  God.  This  is  the  type  of  Chris- 
tology in  the  fourth  Gospel,  and  as  the  highest 
and  most  advanced  must,  it  is  held,  have  come 
last  in  the  process  of  evolution.  First  an  Ebionitic 
Christ,  then  a  Pauline,  then  the  pseudo-yohau- 
nine — such  is  the  order;  and  it  is  maintained  that 
John  the  apostle,  like  all  the  eleven,  must  be 
conceived  as  belonging  to  the  earliest  Ebionitic 
stage. 

We  do  not  admit  the  accuracy  of  the  above 
representation,  especially  as  regards  the  Pauline 
Christology.  But  without  going  into  that,  two 
questions  may  be  asked  regarding  these  three 
types.  1.  In  what  relation  do  they  stand  to 
Christ's  own  utterances  concerning  himself? 
2.  Assuming  a  gradual  growth  in  the  conception 


l6o  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

of  Christ's  person  within  the  New  Testament, 
does  the  highest  stage  necessarily  carry  us  beyond 
the  apostolic  age? 

As  to  the  first,  the  assumption  of  the  Tubin- 
gen theorists  is  that  all  Christ's  own  utterances 
were  of  the  least  developed  type.  On  this  as- 
sumption we  remark  that  it  begs  the  question  at 
issue,  which  is  just  this:  Is  Christianity  super- 
natural? is  Christ  a  divine  Being?  If  he  be  di- 
vine, as  the  church  universal  believes,  then  it  is 
quite  credible  that  he  uttered  such  sayings  con- 
cerning himself  as  we  find  in  the  fourth  Gospel. 
But,  it  may  be  asked,  why  then  are  they  found 
only  there  ?  The  answer  may  be  that  the  writer 
of  the  fourth  Gospel  had  attained  to  a  fuller  un- 
derstanding of  Christ's  doctrine.  We  are  not  en- 
titled to  assume  that  because  Jesus  taught  as  high 
a  doctrine  concerning  himself  as  we  find  in  the 
fourth  Gospel,  therefore  it  must  have  been  fully 
apprehended  at  the  first  or  equally  apprehended 
by  all  who  heard  him.  It  is  quite  conceivable 
that  of  those  who  heard  Jesus  speak  of  himself, 
now  as  Son  of  Man,  now  as  Son  of  God,  some 
should  regard  him  mainly  on  the  human  side, 
some  mainly  on  the  divine. 

As  to  the  second  question — Can  we  conceive 
Christology  assuming  the  developed  form  of  the 
fourth  Gospel  within  the  apostolic  generation  ? — 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  l6l 

we  make  the  following  observations.  Let  ns  as- 
sume that  all  the  disciples  were  alike  in  their 
spiritual  capacity  .and  that  the  difference  percepti- 
ble in  their  writings  was  due  to  the  educating  ef- 
fect of  events  and  of  time.  Even  on  that  hypoth- 
esis it  is  credible  that  the  fourth  Gospel  proceed- 
ed from  the  apostle  John.  According  to  the  tra- 
dition of  the  early  church,  he  lived  till  near  the 
close  of  the  first  century,  and  his  Gospel  was  writ- 
ten later  than  all  the  others,  and  much  later  than 
Paul's  Epistles.  What  wonder  if  we  find  in  a 
Gospel  written  at  so  advanced  a  period  a  grasp  of 
the  "mystery  of  godliness"  more  comprehensive 
not  only  than  that  of  the  Synoptic  Gospels,  but 
even  than  that  of  Paul?  Coining  last,  the  writer 
would  have  the  benefit  of  the  thoughts  of  those 
who  went  before.  As  we  have  seen  that  the  al- 
leged antagonism  between  Paul  and  the  eleven  is 
not  well  founded,  we  can  imagine  John  perusing 
with  sympathetic  spirit  the  writings  of  Paul  and 
receiving  powerful  stimulus  from  them.  Then, 
apart  from  the  direct  influence  of  Paul's  writings, 
the  indirect  effect  of  Paul's  thoughts,  current  in 
the  church,  must  be  taken  into  account  as  stimu- 
lating the  evangelist's  mind  and  leading  him  to 
reflect  on  words  of  Christ  out  of  which  could  be 
educed  a  doctrine  of  Christ's  person  higher  even 
than  that  of  Paul.     Such  an  action  of  the  faith  of 

ii 


l62  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

the  church  on  an  individual  mind,  in  quickening 
recollection  and  increasing  appreciation  of  the 
teaching  of  our  L,ord  concerning  himself,  would 
be  only  analogous  to  the  known  influence  of 
events  in  bringing  the  eleven  to  a  cordial  acqui- 
escence in  the  proposal  to  admit  the  Gentiles  to 
fellowship  on  equal  terms.  It  is,  therefore,  by  no 
means  improbable  that  the  ever-deepening  rever- 
ence of  believers  for  their  Saviour  and  Lord  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  contradictions  of  unbelief 
or  false  belief  on  the  other,  led  the  apostle  John 
to  unfold  the  full  meaning  of  a  title — Son  of  God — 
which,  at  an  earlier  period,  had  been  allowed  to 
remain  in  germinal  form;  to  unfold  it  not  by  spec- 
ulative reflection  chiefly,  but  by  recording  sayings 
of  Jesus  uttered  in  circumstances  similar  to  those 
of  the  writer,  viz.,  in  presence  of  the  contradic- 
tions of  unbelief. 

In  these  observations  we  have  assumed  the 
possibility  of  a  growing  advancement  in  the 
knowledge  of  Christ,  even  in  the  case  of  inspired 
apostles.  There  ought  to  be  nothing  objection- 
able in  such  a  supposition  to  the  most  devout 
mind.  Paul  makes  the  confession,  "  Now  I  know 
in  part."  All  the  apostles  knew  in  part,  and  one 
might  know  more  than  another.  The  greater 
limitedness  of  one  apostle's  knowledge  as  com- 
pared with  another's,  or  with  the  same  apostle's 


AND   HIS  THEORY.  163 

knowledge  at  one  time  as  compared  with  another 
time,  does  not  imply  that  error  must  be  mixed  up 
with  the  views  of  the  less  informed  apostle.  It 
only  signifies  that  the  pure  light  of  truth  is  broken 
up  into  the  colored  rays  of  the  prism  under  the 
wise  guidance  of  the  divine  Spirit.  We  can  con- 
ceive of  an  apostle  who  had  not  entered  so  fully 
into  the  mystery  of  our  Lord's  divinity  as  John 
giving  a  very  full,  lifelike  picture  of  his  human- 
ity, without  prejudice  to  his  claim  to  be  more 
than  man.  This  is,  in  truth,  the  actual  state  of 
the  case,  as  we  see  when  we  compare,  say,  the 
first  Gospel  with  the  fourth.  Hints  of  the  higher 
aspect  of  Christ's  person  are  not  wanting  in  the 
former ;  there  is  one  text  in  particular  of  a  mark- 
edly Johannine  character.  We  refer  to  Matt. 
11 :27  :  u  All  things  are  delivered  unto  Me  of  My 
Father;  and  no  man  knoweth  the  Son  but  the 
Father;  neither  knoweth  any  man  the  Father 
save  the  Son  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  will 
reveal  him."  Still,  it  is  to  the  fourth  Gospel  we 
must  turn  for  the  fully  developed  doctrine  of  our 
Lord's  divinity.  The  Christ  of  Matthew  is  pre- 
eminently the  Son  of  Man  ;  the  Christ  of  John  is 
preeminently  the  Son  of  God. 

A  word  may  here  be  said  on  the  dates  of  the 
Gospels.  The  whole  tendency  of  recent  investi- 
gation has  been  to  press  these  much  farther  back 


164  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN   BAUR 

than  the  position  assigned  to  them  by  Dr.  Baur. 
According  to  him  the  approximate  dates  are,  of 
Matthew  130,  of  Luke  150,  of  Mark  150-160,  of 
John  160-170.  Competent  judges  of  all  schools 
now  incline  to  place  the  fourth  Gospel  at  least  as 
far  back  as  the  beginning  of  the  second  century, 
and  to  assign  to  the  Synoptical  Gospels  a  consider- 
ably earlier  origin.  *  It  has  been  shown,  from  the 
very  corrupt  condition  of  the  texts  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  second  century,  that  the  Gospels  must 
have  been  in  circulation  long  before  the  time  at 
which  they  are  supposed  by  Dr.  Baur  to  have 
come  into  existence.  In  connection  with  this  line 
of  argument  important  service  has  been  rendered 
by  Dr.  Sanday,  in  his  excellent  work  on  "The 
Gospels  in  the  Second  Century,"  written  in  reply 
to  "  Supernatural  Religion."  The  effect  of  his 
book  is  to  demonstrate,  by  means  of  textual  criti- 
cism, that  the  Tubingen  account  of  the  origin  of 
the  gospel  cannot  be  true,  and  that  the  Tubingen 
construction  of  early  church  history  is  a  castle  in 
the  air.  Other  writers  have  done  good  service  in 
the  same  line,  among  whom  may  be  specially 
mentioned  Zahn.     In  a  work  recently  published 

•  It  is  impossible  to  give  the  exact  dates  of  the  Gospels.  The 
main  point  is  that  they  belong  to  the  apostolic  age.  The  Synoptic 
Gospels  were,  according  to  all  probability,  not  later  than  between 
60  and  70  A.  D.  The  probable  date  of  the  fourth  Gospel  is  between 
80  and  90  A.  D. 


AND    HIS   THEORY.  165 

on  the  "  Diatessaron  "  of  Tatian,  this  scholar,  by 
a  similar  process  of  reasoning,  arrives  at  the  same 
conclusion  as  Dr.  Sanday.  Tatian' s  "Diates- 
saron "  was  a  continuous  narrative  of  our  Lord's 
life  constructed  by  selection  from  all  the  Gospels, 
John  being  specially  drawn  upon.*  This  fact  has 
been  ascertained  by  the  help  of  a  commentary, 
written  on  Tatian' s  book  by  the  ancient  father 
Bphraem  the  Syrian,  which  has  been  recently 
discovered  and  made  the  subject  of  learned  study. 
Careful  examination  of  Ephraem's  work  discloses 
the  fact  that  the  texts  of  the  Gospel  used  by  Tatian 
must  have  been  in  a  very  corrupt  state,  and  the 
bearing  of  the  fact  on  the  question  as  to  the  dates 
of  the  Gospels  is  thus  indicated  by  Zahn: 

"Therefrom  follows,  in  the  first  place,  that 
between  the  autographs  of  the  evangelists,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  those  manuscripts  which,  at  latest 
between  160  and  170,  the  author  of  the  Syriac 
version  in  the  east  and  the  author  of  the  old 
Latin  version  in  the  west,  and  their  Greek  con- 
temporaries, had  in  their  hands,  on  the  other,  lay 
a  history  of  the  spread,  emendation,  and  corrup- 
tion of  the  gospel  texts  covering  a  decade;  so  that 
in  view  of  the  history  of  the  text  opinions  as  to 
the  origin  of  John's  Gospel  such  as  Baur  has  ex- 

•  Zahn.    "  Forschungen  zur  Geschichte  des  neutestamentlichen 
Kanons."    Theil  I.,  p.  247. 


l66  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

pressed  must  appear  simply  as  madness.  It  fol- 
lows, further,  that  the  element  which  remains  the 
same  in  all  copies  of  the  originals  and  of  the  ver- 
sions, amid  all  the  variations  that  crept  into  the 
text  between  150  and  160,  must  have  been  every- 
where read  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  cen- 
tury." 

SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION. 

To  sum  up,  the  points  of  our  criticism  are 
these: 

1.  The  theory  is  the  application  of  a  philo- 
sophical system  to  Christianity  with  a  foregone 
conclusion. 

2.  The  exegetical  basis  of  the  theory  does  not 
stand  examination. 

3.  The  criticism  of  New  Testament  books  as- 
sociated with  the  theory  has  in  most  cases  failed 
to  commend  itself  to  the  approval  of  impartial  in- 
vestigators. 

4.  The  doctrine  of  "tendency"  has  been  car- 
ried to  extravagant  lengths. 

5.  Many  of  the  phenomena  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment on  which  this  doctrine  rests  are  imaginary; 
and  those  which  are  not  are  for  the  most  part  sus- 
ceptible of  a  simple  explanation.  Thus  Luke's 
undoubted  interest  in  Paulinism,  or  in  a  Gentile 
Christianity,  is  religious,  not  controversial. 


AND   HIS  THEORY.  167 

L,et  us  not  conclude  this  critical  estimate  with- 
out acknowledging  that  good  has  come  out  of  the 
promulgation  of  this  famous  theory.  It  has  done 
service  even  by  the  thorough-going  nature  of  its 
arguments  and  conclusions,  which  makes  it  an 
extreme  example  of  the  "rigor  and  vigor"  char- 
acteristic of  German  theories  in  general.  It  is  al- 
ways something  to  be  thankful  for  when  in  any 
department  of  human  knowledge  a  hypothesis  is 
adequately  stated,  defended,  and  worked  out.  If 
it  turn  out  an  error,  it  is  an  error  to  which  full 
justice  has  been  done,  and  which  may  be  finally 
put  aside.  Then  we  have  to  thank  Dr.  Baur  for 
provoking  by  his  theory  an  immense  amount  of 
inquiry  among  the  learned  in  connection  with 
questions  of  vital  moment,  bearing  on  the  origin 
of  Christianity,  inquiry  which  in  many  ways  has 
been  fruitful  of  valuable  results.  As  Hume's 
skepticism  awoke  Kant  out  of  dogmatic  slumber, 
and  thus  indirectly  gave  birth  to  the  "Criticism 
of  Pure  Reason,"  a  contribution  of  permanent 
value  to  the  theory  of  knowledge,  so  Baur's 
theory  has  roused  the  Christian  church  to  consid- 
er with  increased  carefulness  the  historical  foun- 
dations of  its  faith,  with  the  result,  not  of  clear- 
ing away  all  difficulties,  but  certainly  of  adding 
to  the  strength  of  Christian  conviction  and  great- 
ly narrowing   the  sphere  of  controversy.     Once 


l68  FERDINAND   CHRISTIAN    BAUR 

more,  Dr.  Baur,  in  advocating  his  peculiar  views, 
incidentally  directs  attention  to  many  Biblical 
phenomena  of  interest  which  had  previously  been 
overlooked,  and  which  cast  a  fresh  light  on  the 
books  wherein  they  occur.  The  remark  applies 
especially  to  the  Gospel  of  L,uke.  Since  the  Tu- 
bingen theory  was  propounded,  students  of  Scrip- 
ture have  seen,  as  they  never  saw  before,  the 
Pauline  stamp  on  every  page  of  that  Gospel.  For 
the  accentuation  of  that  one  fact,  both  pulpit  and 
pew  owe  a  debt  to  the  German  theologian  whose 
speculations  have  occupied  our  attention.  For 
nothing  is  more  fitted  to  make  this  Gospel  a  copi- 
ous spring  of  grace,  life,  and  salvation  to  the  peo- 
ple than  that  our  preachers  should  perceive  how 
thoroughly  it  is  pervaded  by  Paul's  spirit,  and 
how  truly  it  is,  as  Renan  has  said,  "  the  Gospel  of 
the  sinful. n  • 

This  tract  may  fitly  end  with  the  statement  of 
another  truth  which  we  have  not  learned  from 
Dr.  Baur.  It  is  that  the  burden  of  the  third  Gos- 
pel is  the  burden  of  the  whole  New  Testament. 
These  sacred  writings  are  not  a  heap  of  confusion 
and  contradiction;  on  the  contrary,  amid  much 
that  is  distinctive,  there  is  throughout  essential 
harmony.  They  owe  their  origin  severally  to  the 
needs  and  conflicts  of  the  primitive  church,  or 
particular  sections  of  it,  but  the  whole  of  the  col- 


AND   HIS   THEORY.  169 

lection  has  one  theme,  God's  gift  of  grace  in 
Christ  Jesus.  All  the  writers  are  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  conviction  that  with  Christ  a 
great  good  came  into  the  world,  and  that  his  ad- 
vent was  an  epoch-making  event  in  the  history  of 
mankind.  All  regard  that  event  as  one  in  which 
all  men  have  an  interest,  "good  tidings  of  great 
joy,"  not  for  Jews  only,  but  also  for  Gentiles. 
And  the  boon  Christ  brings,  as  conceived  by  all 
alike,  is  radically  the  same:  reconciliation,  peace 
on  earth,  between  God  and  man,  and  between 
man  and  man;  God  as  a  gracious  Father  receiv- 
ing sinful  unworthy  men  as  his  children,  and  men 
once  alienated  regarding  each  other  as  brethren. 
The  benefit  is  indeed  apprehended  and  exhibited 
under  different  aspects,  not  conflicting,  but  rather 
complementary,  and  tending,  when  combined,  to 
show  the  riches  of  divine  grace.  In  the  Synopti- 
cal Gospels  it  appears  under  the  title  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  or  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  in  accord- 
ance with  our  Lord's  frequent  though  not  ex- 
clusive mode  of  representation.  In  Paul's  Epis- 
tles, and  especially  in  the  four  great  Epistles  to 
the  Roman,  Corinthian,  and  Galatian  Churches, 
the  gift  of  grace  is  named  the  righteousness  of  God, 
and. aptly  sets  the  gospel  in  contrast  to  legalism; 
the  gospel  offering  the  righteousness  of  God  as  a 
gift  to   faith,   while   legalism  has  for  its 

UNIVERSITY 


I7C  BAUR  AND   HIS  THEORY. 

righteousness  self-acquired.  In  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  the  nature  of  Christianity  is  further  il- 
lustrated by  being  viewed  in  relation  to  the  Le- 
vitical  religion.  In  this  aspect  it  is  the  religion 
of  unrestricted  access  to  God,  in  contrast  to  the 
L,evitical  system  which  kept  men  at  a  distance; 
the  religion  of  ' '  the  better  hope  through  which 
we  draw  nigh  to  God."  Heb.  7:19,  R.  V. 
lastly,  in  John's  Gospel  the  gift  of  God  is  chiefly 
set  forth  as  eternal  life,  conferred  on  all  who  re- 
ceive Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God.  uHe  that  hath 
the  Son  hath  life,"  is  the  characteristic  message 
of  the  fourth  evangelist.  All  the  other  writings 
of  the  New  Testament  are  in  full  sympathy  with 
the  views  set  forth  in  those  just  named.  Peter, 
James,  and  the  John  of  the  Apocalypse  speak  the 
same  language  as  Paul  and  the  four  evangelists. 
John  in  his  Gospel  writes,  "The  law  was  given 
by  Moses;  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ." 
This  saying  might  be  prefixed  as  a  motto  to  the 
whole  New  Testament. 


THE 


RELIGIOUS  VALUE 


OF  THE 


DOCTRINES  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


BY 
PROF.  C.  M.  DBS  ISLETS,  Ph.  D. 


ARGUMENT. 


Timeliness  of  this  discussion.  The  question  stated. 
Relation  between  religious  life  and  religious  belief. 
What  is  true  religion?  The  communion  of  a  human 
person  with  a  personal  God.  A  personal  God  alone 
can  satisfy  the  cravings  of  the  human  heart.  The  ex- 
piatory sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ  satisfies  the  conscience. 
Corroborated  by  all  the  religious  forms  and  ceremonies 
of  humanity.  The  practical  importance  of  some  of  the 
Christian  doctrines  considered:  the  incarnation,  the 
God- man,  the  expiation  of  Jesus  the  strongest  motive 
to  our  love.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus,  its  paramount 
importance.  The  Trinity.  The  practical  value  assigned 
to  doctrines  by  the  apostles.  Further  corroboration 
from  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church.     Conclusion. 


THE 

RELIGIOUS  VALUE 


OF  THE 


DOCTlilflES  OF  CHE1ST1AN1TY. 


i. 

There  is  a  large  number  of  people  who  be- 
lieve that  man  needs  to-day  a  more  rational  and 
more  simplified  religion.  It  is  affirmed  by  many 
that  the  world  is  ripe  for  a  more  human  Christi- 
anity, a  Christianity  freed  from  the  dogmas  of 
traditional  faith,  and  it  is  further  affirmed  that 
the  masses  are  ready  to  receive  and  accept  such  a 
religion;  in  proof  of  which  the  preaching  of 
modern  evangelists  is  adduced  which,  it  is  said, 
is  entirely  free  from  the  dogmas  and  doctrines  of 
old-style  preaching.  Platform  lecturers  of  all 
sorts,  magazine  writers,  newspaper  editors — and 
I  know  not  how  many  dilettant  besides — all 
unite  their  voices  in  the  cry  that  the  orthodox 
faith  has  lost  its  hold  upon  the  people;  that  the 


174  RELIGIOUS   VALUE   OF 

church  is  losing  her  time  in  preaching,  to  the 
people  of  this  age,  old  doctrines  long  since  worn 
out,  no  longer  suited  to  the  times  or  the  needs  of 
the  generation  now  upon  the  field  of  action.  And 
yet,  we  are  told,  mankind  are  eager  for  the  gos- 
pel. They  yearn  after  it,  feeling  that  in  it  are 
the  words  of  eternal  life,  as  is  evidenced  by  the 
thousands  that  rush  to  hear  any  new  evangelist 
who  ignores  the  old  traditional  doctrine  of  the 
church  and  confines  his  preaching  to  the  things 
in  the  Scriptures  demanded  by  the  present  gen- 
eration. Besides,  it  is  argued  that  these  super- 
annuated doctrines  have  been  tacked  on  to  Chris- 
tianity and  have  no  essential  relation  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Christian  religion.  The  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ,  they  are  fond  of  saying,  is  not  a 
tangled  mass  of  miraculous  facts,  but  it  is  a  new 
spirit,  a  new  life;  it  is  a  life-giving  principle 
thrown  into  the  world  to  transform  and  sanctify 
it.  One  God,  the  Father  of  all  men,  a  great  hu- 
manity, constituting  one  large  family  of  brothers — 
herein  is  all  Christianity.  As  for  the  traditional 
doctrines  of  the  fall,  the  incarnation,  expiation 
upon  the  cross,  these  are  dogmas  that  the  present 
generation  does  not  believe.  They  are  parasites 
that  have  dried  up  and  well  nigh  sapped  the  life 
out  of  the  tree  once  planted  by  Jesus  Christ;  they 
are  useless  appendages  of  metaphysics,  inventions 


THE   DOCTRINES  OF   CHRISTIANITY.  1 75 

of  theology  or  superstition;  they  are  without  in- 
fluence over  the  souls  of  men  and  have  no  reli- 
gious value;  nay,  they  are  actually  detrimental 
to  the  growth  of  the  spiritual  life  in  the  soul. 

Now,  let  us  examine  this  subject  with  an 
honest  and  candid  spirit,  eschewing  prejudice  to 
confine  ourselves  to  principles.  L,et  us  state  the 
question,  too,  as  the  opponents  of  orthodoxy  them- 
selves state  it.  Let  us  see  whether  it  is  true  that 
the  doctrines  of  orthodoxy  are  extraneous  to  or 
outside  of  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  whether  these 
doctrines  actually  hinder  the  upbuilding  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  soul. 

I  readily  recognize  what  of  truth  there  is  in 
the  affirmation  of  those  who  reject  all  creeds  and 
all  dogmas.  We  recognize  that  Christianity  is  a 
spirit  and  a  life;  it  is  a  life-giving  principle,  a 
power  of  moral  transformation  and  progress.  But 
Christianity  is  all  this  only  because  it  is  a  divine 
fact,  an  intervention  of  God  in  the  world  in  order 
to  reinstate  fallen  man  to  his  Maker's  favor  which 
he  had  lost  by  sin ;  because  it  is  a  supernatural  act 
of  deliverance  and  restoration  by  which  we  are 
freed  from  the  slavery  of  sin  and  born  into  a  new 
life  of  obedience  and  love.  Now,  this  divine 
fact  is  at  the  same  time  a  miracle  and  a  dogma — 
miracle  and  dogma  that  imply  all  the  dogmas 
and  doctrines  of  Christianity. 


i;6  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF 

Further:  we  also  recognize  the  difference  be- 
tween theology  and  religion,  between  the  systems 
elaborated  by  human  science  and  the  facts  or  the 
truths  revealed,  that  are  the  foundation  of  sal- 
vation. So  it  is  not  theological  formulas  that  we 
are  defending,  but  revealed  truths;  and  we  do 
this  in  behalf  of  the  religious  life  and  the  spirit- 
ual interests  of  our  souls.  We  insist  upon  this  in 
order  that  we  may  not  be  misunderstood.  What 
we  are  defending  is  not  a  scientific  translation  of 
the  facts  of  Christianity  attempted  by  theology; 
it  is  not  the  ecclesiastical  dogmas  as  a  product  of 
human  speculation;  but  rather,  it  is  the  facts  of 
Christianity  taken  in  their  simplicity,  or  it  is  the 
dogmas  of  the  Christian  church  considered  as  the 
affirmation  of  these  very  facts  pure  and  simple. 

I  further  acknowledge  that  outside  of  faith  in 
Christ  there  may  be  a  certain  kind  of  religious 
life.  But  we  insist  upon  it  that  the  only  religious 
life  really  worthy  of  the  name  is  that  which  is 
produced  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ;  that  is,  by  the 
contact  of  the  soul  with  the  facts  of  Christianity, 
or  rather  with  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  in  whom 
these  facts  are  incarnate  in  a  living  way.  We 
hold  that  the  facts  of  Christianity  possess,  of 
themselves,  sanctifying  power  and  a  religious 
value  that  nothing  in  the  world  does  equal.  We 
cling  to  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  not  in  the 


THE   DOCTRINES  OE   CHRISTIANITY.  1 77 

interests  of  any  school  or  sect,  but  in  the  name 
of  our  every-day  religious  life  and  for  the  sake  of 
the  upbuilding  of  vital  piety  in  the  heart  of  the 
believer.  Now,  in  religion,  everything  that  is 
not  necessary  is  useless;  everything  that  does  not 
help  is  a  hindrance  and  must  be  rejected.  So 
that  if  it  were  shown  that  the  doctrines  which  we 
are  defending  have  no  religious  value,  that  far 
from  being  a  help  to  a  pious  life  they  actually 
impede  the  soul's  growth  in  grace,  our  decision 
would  be  soon  taken.  No  matter  how  venerable 
the  tradition  that  has  preserved  them,  however 
highly  our  fathers  might  have  prized  them,  we 
would  abandon  them  at  once  and  utterly.  We 
assign  too  high  a  place  to  an  earnest,  devoted 
religious  life,  we  love  the  church  with  too  sincere 
a  devotion,  we  are  too  jealous  of  the  salvation  of 
souls,  to  refuse  to  make  a  sacrifice  that  would 
make  certain  the  triumph  of  the  gospel  in  the 
world. 

With  this  candid  sincerity  we  do  not  hesitate 
to  open  a  fearless  and  thorough  discussion  of  the 
question  that  heads  this  little  work. 

This  question  is  closely  allied  to  another  one, 
the  answers  to  both  also  being  closely  related,  to- 
wit:  the  relation  that  exists  between  religious  life 
and  religious  belief.  It  has  been  held  that  reli- 
gion, from  its  very  essence,  is  absolutely  inde- 


1/3  RELIGIOUS   VALUE   OF 

pendent  of  the  convictions  of  the  mind,  that  we 
meet  religious  people  among  the  sectaries  of  the 
most  antagonistic  systems.  For  instance,  that  a 
man  may  be  a  theist,  a  pantheist,  a  deist,  or  a  ma- 
terialist, and  that  his  religious  life  will  not  be  af- 
fected thereby.  It  is  affirmed  that  religion  is  not 
an  act  of  knowledge  but  a  sentiment;  that  reli- 
gion is  the  sentiment  of  the  divine,  and  the  di- 
vine is  everything  that  is  good,  true,  and  beauti- 
ful: it  is  perfection,  it  is  the  ideal,  it  is  the  infi- 
nite. Thus  understood,  religion  is  a  part  of 
everything.  A  great  spectacle  of  nature,  like 
Niagara,  or  an  awful  conflagration  or  an  awe-in- 
spiring tornado  or  a  beautiful  work  of  art  or  a 
heroic  deed — in  a  word,  everything  that  is  capable 
of  awakening  in  us  the  sentiment  of  the  infinite — 
is  for  us  the  occasion  of  religious  emotion.  This 
emotion  is  entirely  independent  of  our  belief  con- 
cerning God,  his  nature  and  his  attributes.  De- 
ists and  pantheists  certainly  meet  here  on  the 
same  ground;  for  these  emotions  are  the  same  in 
all  men,  whatever  may  be  their  intellectual  or  re- 
ligious belief.  Whether  God  is  a  personal  being 
or  not;  whether  he  is  distinct  from  the  world  or 
the  two  are  absorbed  into  one  and  the  same  being; 
whether  God  is  the  creator  of  the  universe  or  the 
sum  of  the  natural  forces  in  this  world,  sentiment 
is  certainly  the  same  whatever  theory  be  held. 


THE   DOCTRINES   OF   CHRISTIANITY.         1 79 

But  the  flaw  lies  here:  they  who  thus  argue 
are  mistaken  as  to  the  nature  of  religion.  They 
take  for  religion  that  which  is  not  religion,  and 
it  is  then  easy  for  them  to  adapt  it  to  various 
theories.  If  religion  is  but  a  vague  sentiment  of 
the  infinite,  a  confused  aspiration  after  the  divine, 
then  it  ceases  to  have  a  domain  peculiar  to  itself 
and  becomes  confused,  now  with  art,  now  with 
philosophy,  and  now  with  science.  For  does 
not  the  artist  or  the  philosopher,  each  one  after 
his  own  fashion,  aspire  after  the  infinite  and  the 
divine?  What  is  the  effort  of  the  artist  to  express 
the  ideal,  of  whose  radiant  beauty  he  has  had  a 
glimpse  as  in  a  vision,  but  an  ardent  aspiration 
after  the  infinite?  What  is  the  ultimate  object  of 
the  meditations  of  the  thinker  but  that  first  prin- 
ciple of  all  things,  that  primary  and  universal 
law  that  contains  all  principles  and  explains  all 
laws?  But  poetry,  philosophy,  art,  and  science 
are  not,  for  all  that,  religion.  The  sentiment  of 
the  beautiful  is  not  religion;  neither  is  the  phil- 
osophical spirit  nor  the  scientific  spirit.  The 
religious  sentiment  has  its  specific  and  distinct 
object,  and  that  is  not  the  divine;  that  object  is 
God.  It  is  not  an  abstract  idea;  it  is  a  living  per- 
son. It  is  a  God  who  sees  and  hears,  who  loves 
and  desires  to  be  loved,  who  answers  them  that 
call  upon  him  and  is  found  of  them  that  seek 


180  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF 

him.  The  communion  of  man  with  the  living 
God — that  is  religion.  Religion  is  man  lifting 
himself  up  to  God  and  opening  communication 
with  him  by  prayer,  obedience,  and  love;  religion 
is  God  coining  down  to  man,  dwelling  in  his 
heart,  permeating  his  life,  and  leading  him  by  the 
hand  as  a  father  leads  a  child.  Religion  is  a  free 
and  intimate  communion  of  hearts  between  God 
and  man. 

If  this  is  religion,  it  goes  without  saying  that 
the  only  philosophical  systems  that  are  religious 
are  those  that  maintain  the  existence  of  a  personal 
God.  Every  system  that  suppresses  a  personal 
God,  by  this  act  makes  religion  an  impossibility. 
This  is  also  true  of  every  system  that  denies 
human  personality.  Religion,  indeed,  is  a  rela- 
tion that  implies  two  terms  :  the  personality  of 
man  and  the  personality  of  God.  Suppress  either 
of  these  terms  and  religion  ceases  to  exist.  And 
this  relation  is  realized  by  love,  and  love  implies 
freedom.  A  system  of  fatalism  that  would  make 
necessity  the  universal  law  would  thereby  be  an 
anti-religious  system. 


THE    DOCTRINES   OF   CHRISTIANITY.  161 

II. 

Let  us  learn  from  conscience  and  history  what 
aspirations  of  the  human  soul  religion  must  satisfy ; 
and  let  us  first  take  the  testimony  of  conscience, 
by  which  I  here  mean  the  human  heart. 

Every  one  that  enters  into  himself  and  gives 
himself  a  searching  examination  finds  in  his  heart 
and  life  a  void  that  nothing  here  can  fill.  The 
happiness  that  this  world  offers  him  is  insufficient. 
Neither  the  gratification  of  the  senses  nor  the 
higher  pleasures  of  intellectual  pursuits  nor  the 
blessed  joys  of  legitimate  affection  nor  the  sub- 
stantial enjoyment  of  performed  duty  can  quench 
all  the  thirst  of  the  soul.  Having  come  from 
God  and  being  made  in  his '  image,  man  can  live 
happy  only  in  God.  He  aspires  after  him  by  all 
the  faculties  of  his  being.  His  intellect  seeks 
him  as  the  light  without  which  all  is  darkness, 
his  heart  as  the  supreme  object  of  its  affections, 
his  conscience  as  the  support  and  sanction  that  it 
needs.  So  long  as  man  has  not  found  God  he 
cannot  taste  true  happiness. 

But  let  us  examine  at  shorter  range  and  see 
what  is  implied  in  this  need  of  God  which  distin- 
guishes man  from  all  other  creatures. 

Man  needs  to  know  God.  It  is  not  enough  for 
him  to  know  that  there  is  a  God;  he  must  also 


1 32  RELIGIOUS   VALUE   OF 

know  what  God  is.  ''Chimerical  pretension!" 
say  some.  "The  Eternal  and  the  Infinite  will 
always  remain  inaccessible  to  finite  beings  like 
ourselves."  This  is  true  enough;  man  can  never 
hope  to  gain  that  absolute,  adequate  knowledge 
that  the  infinite  God  alone  can  have  of  himself. 
In  many  directions  God  remains  inaccessible  to 
us,  and  our  hearts  do  not  yearn  after  the  incom- 
prehensible attributes  of  God.  Indeed,  man's 
mind  would  not  be  satisfied  with  a  God  whom  his 
intellectual  compass  could  gauge.  Such  a  God 
could  not  be  a  real  God  to  us. 

But  if  in  some  respects  the  nature  of  God 
transcends  our  knowledge,  there  are  sides  of  his 
nature  by  which  he  can  be  known  of  us.  I  refer 
to  those  moral  attributes  that  we  bear  in  our  own 
natures  and  by  which  we  are  of  "  the  family  of 
God."  Through  these  God  is  accessible  to  us, 
and  on  account  of  them  our  souls  thirst  after  God. 
I  need  to  know  that  God  is  good,  that  he  is  just, 
that  he  is  holy;  I  need  to  know  what  his  will  is 
concerning  me.  Does  he  care  for  me  ?  Does  he 
love  me  ?  Will  he  answer  me  if  I  call  upon  him  ? 
Can  I  depend  upon  his  tender  care  when  in  dis- 
tress? Is  he  my  Judge  as  well  as  my  Father,  and 
will  he  require  of  me  some  day  an  account  of  all 
the  deeds  of  my  life  ? 

My  conscience  answers  all  these  questions  in 


THE    DOCTRINES  OF   CHRISTIANITY.  1 83 

the  affirmative;  and  many  external  voices  con- 
firm this  testimony  of  my  conscience.  Nature 
and  the  facts  of  history  reveal  a  God  full  of  wis- 
dom and  love  who  cares  for  even  the  least  of  his 
creatures,  who  renders  unto  each  according  to  his 
work,  and  who  by  no  means  clears  the  guilty. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  how  many  things  in  the 
world  seem  to  accuse  God's  justice  and  belie  his 
love!  What  disorders  in  nature,  what  scandals 
in  history ;  what  undeserved  sufferings,  what 
crimes  unpunished!  What  shall  we  say  of  death 
and  so  many  heart-rending  occurrences  that  some- 
times put  upon  our  lips  this  word,  "There  is  no 
God"?  Who  will  reconcile  these  contradictory 
testimonies?  Who  will  remove  the  difficulties 
produced  by  the  presence  of  evil  in  the  world  and 
in  man? 

But  let  God  himself  speak.  Let  him  teach  us 
what  he  is  and  what  he  requires  of  us.  Let  him 
instruct  and  reassure  us.  Let  him  give  us  evi- 
dences of  his  love  and  his  justice  strong  enough 
to  dispel  every  objection  and  every  doubt.  This 
is  the  cry  of  man's  heart.  To  know  God,  to  see 
and  hear  him  more  clearly  and  distinctly  than  he 
is  seen  and  heard  in  nature  and  history,  is  the  first 
great  need  of  our  soul.  Nor  is  it  because  of  a 
vain  curiosity  or  the  proud  ambition  of  our  intel- 
lect that  we  desire  to  know  God,   but  it  is  in 


1 84  RELIGIOUS   VALUE   OF 

order  to  possess  him  and  unite  ourselves  to  him. 
Union  with  God  and  communion  with  him — this 
is  the  second  object  of  our  soul's  aspiration  after 
God;  this  is  what  constitutes  the  very  essence  of 
religion. 

How  can  this  communion  with  God  be  real- 
ized? Through  obedience  and  love,  answers  onr 
conscience.  To  obey  the  law  that  God  has  graven 
upon  our  hearts,  to  love  what  God  loves,  and  to 
will  what  he  wills,  these  are  the  essential  condi- 
tions of  a  religious  life.  To  accomplish  some  ab- 
stract principle  like  that  of  duty  is  not  sufficient 
for  the  religious  man  ;  he  must  obey  some  one. 
In  doing  good  he  must  feel  himself  in  accord  with 
Him  who  is  the  good  realized  in  a  living  person. 
In  addition  to  this  testimony  of  his  conscience 
man  needs  the  approbation  of  God.  To  do  God's 
will  and  feel  conscious  of  his  approbation,  to  love 
and  be  loved  by  him,  to  walk  with  him,  to  make 
him  the  centre  and  object  of  our  life — this  is  the 
ideal  of  the  religious  soul,  this  is  true  religion. 

But  no  sooner  has  man  a  glimpse  of  this  ideal 
than  he  feels  his  inability  to  attain  it.  His  con- 
science accuses  him.  He  is  conscious  of  having 
violated  that  law  graven  within  himself  and  which 
is  a  reflector  of  God's  will.  In  addition  to  actual 
transgression  he  discovers  within  himself  a  clear- 
ly defined  disposition  to  do  evil  rather  than  good. 


THE   DOCTRINES  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  1 85 

Underlying  actual  transgression  there  resides  cor- 
ruption; back  of  sins  is  sin — an  organic  and  pro- 
found disease  that  holds  our  entire  moral  being 
and  paralyses  all  our  energy. 

Man,  then,  is  separated  from  God  by  an  im- 
passable abyss;  for  what  communion  can  exist 
between  holiness  and  sin  ?  It  is  impossible  for 
man  to  cross  this  great  gulf.  And  yet  he  feels 
that  union  with  God  is  not  only  his  duty,  but  that 
therein  rests  his  only  hope  of  supreme  happiness. 
Hence  the  painful  conflict  that  every  man  bears 
in  himself;  he  desires  to  hold  communion  with 
God,  but  sin  stands  between  them  as  an  impassable 
barrier.  Man  aspires  after  God;  and  because  his 
knowledge  of  him  is  insufficient,  it  is  necessary 
that  God  reveal  himself  to  him  in  a  clearer,  more 
direct  way.  Such  is  the  testimony  of  our  con- 
science; such  is  also  the  testimony  of  history, 
wherein  is  manifested  the  conscience  of  mankind. 
History  everywhere  attests  this  human  need  of 
God  by  showing  us  the  existence  of  religious  forms 
everywhere.  Whatever  degree  of  civilization  the 
peoples  of  the  earth  have  attained,  they  have  a 
religion  and  corresponding  institutions  and  cere- 
monies. If  we  examine  these  various  religions  we 
shall  find  certain  general  or  universal  traits  in  all 
of  them  that  clearly  establish  the  fact  that  thirst 
after  God  is  a  universal  trait  of  mankind.     One  of 


1 86  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF 

the  first  things  taught  us  by  history  is  the  belief 
among  mankind,  everywhere  and  in  all  ages,  in 
supernatural  manifestations  by  which  the  gods 
communicate  with  men  and  make  known  their  in- 
tentions to  them.  In  general,  a  particular  caste, 
the  priests,  have  charge  of  these  manifestations. 
Charged  by  the  people  with  the  duty  of  consulting 
the  gods,  these  priests  transmit  to  the  people 
whatever  oracles  these  deities  may  see  fit  to  send. 
Sometimes  sacred  books  are  used  wherein  the  eods 
have  inscribed  their  will.  At  other  times  the 
gods  themselves  have  come  down  to  live  among 
men,  and  have  made  themselves  known  and  have 
given  their  laws.  But  under  all  these  different 
forms  we  discover  the  same  thing,  namely,  a 
revelation  from  above  attempting  to  teach  men 
what  they  need  to  know  in  order  to  fulfil  their 
destiny. 

In  connection  with  this  we  find  another  fact. 
As  there  is  no  religion  without  some  supernatural 
communication,  so  there  is  no  religion  without 
priests  and  sacrifices.  And  what  are  priests  but 
mediators  between  heaven  and  the  earth?  And 
again,  what  does  this  mediation  imply  but  that  an 
abyss  separates  sinful  man  from  the  unseen  and 
mysterious  Power  upon  which  man  is  dependent, 
and  that  this  abyss  must  be  closed  up  before  man 
can  hold  communion  with  God  ?    Men  in  all  aq-es 


THE   DOCTRINES  OF  CHRISTIANITY.         187 

and  in  all  climes  have  been  conscious  of  their 
unworthiness  to  present  themselves  before  the  di- 
vinity and  that  the  incense  offered  by  their  impure 
hands  could  not  be  acceptable  to  him  whom  they 
desired  to  serve.  Hence  they  have  chosen  some 
of  their  number  whom  they  have  set  apart  from 
themselves  as  if  to  remove  them  from  the  univer- 
sal corruption  of  the  world ;  and  these  chosen  and 
select  few,  after  having  purified  themselves,  have 
assumed  the  office  of  presenting  to  the  deity  the 
services  of  their  brethren  which  these  felt  them- 
selves unworthy  to  offer.  Now  the  essential 
function  of  the  priesthood  is  the  offering  of  sacri- 
fices. Some  sacrifices  are  acts  of  adoration  and 
thanksgiving,  while  others  are  bloody  expiations. 
There  is  a  voice  of  the  human  conscience  in  the 
blood  that  sprinkles  every  altar.  This  voice  em- 
phatically proclaims  that  man  thus  offering  sacri- 
fices acknowledges  himself  guilty  before  God  and 
deserving  his  wrath.  It  proclaims,  too,  that  man 
cannot  hope  to  placate  God  by  his  feeble  tears,  but 
that  a  profound  act  of  expiation  is  needed.  So, 
also,  places  consecrated  to  the  service  of  God  pro- 
claim the  same  fact,  that  is,  man's  conscience  rec- 
ognizing man's  guilt.  The  priesthood,  sacrifices, 
and  temples  are  so  many  institutions  found  among 
mankind  inspired  by  the  same  sentiment  and 
teaching  the  same  lesson,  to   wit,  that  man   is 


1 88  RELIGIOUS   VALUE   OK 

guilty  before  God  and  that  he  needs  propitiation 
before  he  is  fit  to  appear  in  His  presence.  They 
attest,  at  the  same  time,  his  guilt  and  his  hope  of 
having  this  guilt  blotted  out  and  being  restored 
to  God's  favor  which  he  has  lost. 

The  religious  institutions  of  all  nations,  then, 
as  well  as  every  man's  conscience,  show  us  at  the 
bottom  of  every  human  soul  the  felt  need  of  a 
positive  revelation  from  God  and  of  a  reparation 
of  some  sort  that  will  reestablish  between  heaven 
and  earth  the  relations  so  profoundly  disturbed 
by  sin.  It  is  this  double  need  of  mankind  that 
Christianity  supplies.  Christianity  is  summed 
up  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  Jesus  Christ  is  the  re- 
vealer  of  God  and  the  express  image  of  his  person. 
Jesus  teaches  what  we  need  to  know  concerning 
God  and  our  eternal  destiny — what  neither  nature 
nor  history  nor  human  conscience  can  teach  us. 
It  is  he  who  reveals  to  us  the  Father  in  heaven, 
the  Father  who  has  not  ceased  to  love  his  rebel- 
lious children,  and  who  does  not  take  pleasure  in 
the  death  of  the  sinner,  but  rather  that  all  should 
return  unto  him  and  live. 

But  Jesus  Christ  does  more  even  than  this. 
He  is  not  only  the  greatest  of  all  teachers,  he  is  him- 
self the  truth.  In  him  the  invisible  things  have 
become  visible,  heaven  has  come  down  to  earth; 
the  unseen  God,  from  whom  a  great  gulf  separates 


THE   DOCTRINES   OF  CHRISTIANITY.  1S9 

us  and  whom  nature  conceals  while  giving  us 
glimpses  of  him,  has  come  near  us.  He  has  suit- 
ed himself  to  our  weak  state  to  such  a  degree  that 
he  was  seen  of  our  eyes  and  touched  of  our  hands. 
From  age  to  age  humanity  had  repeated  the  cry  of 
Philip,  u  Show  us  the  Father,"  and  to  this  cry 
Jesus  answers,  '  *  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen 
the  Father."  Henceforth  all  that  is  required  in 
order  to  see  God  is  to  open  the  eyes  and  see.  The 
unseen  God  whom  the  heathen  worshipped,  he 
whom  the  philosophers  despaired  of  finding  in  the 
infinite  limits  of  space,  he  is  there  moving  and 
acting  before  our  eyes.  Behold  Jesus!  In  his 
person  and  life  we  shall  see  shining  with  resplen- 
dent light  holiness  and  love,  and  by  the  splendor 
of  that  heavenly  light  we  shall  recognize  that 
God  whom  we  had  so  long  and  so  vainly  sought. 
But  Jesus  is  not  only  the  supreme  revealer,  he 
is  also  the  supreme  mediator.  He  is  primarily 
this  in  his  incarnation.  His  person,  in  which 
divinity  and  humanity  are  united  in  a  living  way, 
fills  the  gulf  that  separates  us  from  God.  But  it 
is  mainly  by  redemption  that  Jesus  accomplishes 
that  work  which  every  human  religion,  however 
crude,  pretends  to  accomplish.  Jesus  is  the  true 
High  Priest  of  humanity;  he  is  its  representative 
before  the  Father.  Raising  towards  heaven  his 
hands,  he  intercedes  in  behalf  of  the  sinner.     He 


I9O  RELIGIOUS   VALUE   OF 

does  more  than  this:  he  offers  himself  a  sacrifice 
for  sinners,  and  by  that  voluntary  sacrifice  of  him- 
self he  blots  out  the  sinner's  sins.  Henceforth 
that  impassable  barrier  which  stood  between  God 
and  man  has  disappeared  and  the  way  leading 
from  earth  to  heaven  has  been  opened. 

Thus  Jesus,  in  his  person  and  work,  alone  com- 
pletely satisfies  the  human  conscience.  He  is  the 
revealer  of  God  and  the  author  of  that  reparation" 
that  restores  to  sinners  the  favor  of  God.  He 
gives  us  the  reality  of  which  all  false  religions 
have  but  the  weakest  shadow,  and  thus  he  estab- 
lishes the  true  religion  and  founds  the  true  church 
of  God  upon  the  earth. 


III. 

Thus  far  we  have  dealt  with  our  subject  in  a 
general  way,  showing  how  the  two  facts  of  revela- 
tion and  redemption  supply  the  two  fundamental 
needs  of  the  religious  conscience.  But  this  gen- 
eral summary — which  we  have  greatly  abbreviated 
— is  not  quite  sufficient  to  the  end  we  have  in 
view.  We  must  enter  into  some  details  and  make 
our  demonstration  more  complete  by  showing  that 
each  one  of  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  Christianity 
has  its  own  peculiar  importance,  from  a  religious 
point  of  view,  because  they  are  all  related  to  the 


THE   DOCTRINES  OF   CHRISTIANITY.  I9I 

central  fact  of  redemption.  For  this  is  not  a  ques- 
tion of  theory,  but  the  very  facts  and  fundamental 
truths  of  Christianity. 

One  of  the  features  of  contemporary  faith  is  its 
incomplete  and  fragmentary  character,  a  want  of 
clear  and  definite  views  of  Christian  truth,  igno- 
rance of  those  marvellous  things  that  God  has  re- 
vealed to  us  for  the  nurture  and  salvation  of  our 
souls.  Traces  of  this  ignorance  are  visible  in 
some  of  the  popular  preaching  of  the  day  as  well 
as  in  the  daily  life  of  the  private  Christian.  This 
is  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  declension  of  the 
spiritual  life  of  the  church.  For  the  weak  pulsa- 
tions of  a  religious  life  are  necessarily  the  result  of 
an  unsettled,  vacillating  faith.  So  if  we  would 
restore  to  the  preaching  of  the  Word  and  the  reli- 
gious life  the  power  that  is  too  often  lacking,  we 
must  assign  to  Christian  doctrines  the  place  that 
belongs  to  them.  The  religious  life  of  the  Chris- 
tian proceeds  from  the  truth;  for  the  truth  is  not 
an  abstract  idea,  but  a  living  power;  it  is  a  fact 
and  a  personality;  it  is  a  redemption  and  a  Re- 
deemer; it  is  the  sum  of  divine  love  for  the  salva-. 
tion  of  men;  it  is  the  gift  of  God  himself  in  the 
person  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  And  no  part  of 
Christianity  is  of  little  worth  to  the  religious  life 
of  the  disciple.  In  the  realm  of  grace,  as  well  as 
in  that  of  nature,  God  has  made  nothing  useless: 


I92  RELIGIOUS   VALUE  OF 

everything  that  is  revealed  is  helpful  to  our  sal- 
vation. To  every  truth  corresponds  a  grace  of 
which  it  were  folly  and  ingratitude  to  deprive  our- 
selves. It  behooves  us  to  learn  the  whole  truth; 
for  this  truth  is  a  living  organism  which  we  can- 
not mutilate  without  injury;  it  is  an  edifice  from 
which  a  single  stone  being  taken  brings  down 
with  it  the  whole  structure.  So  we  may  affirm  in 
an  important  sense  that  in  religion  there  are  no 
unimportant  truths;  for  these  are  so  closely  related 
to  the  fundamental  truths  that  they  become  them- 
selves essential  truths.  Let  us  examine  this  point 
more  minutely. 

We  said  above  that  Christianity  is  first  of  all  a 
revelation  and  a  redemption,  and  that  it  thereby 
corresponds  to  the  imperative  needs  of  the  con- 
science. I  would  now  add  that  Christianity  pre- 
serves its  religious  value  only  if  the  person  and 
work  of  Jesus  Christ  retain  the  distinctive  charac- 
ter assigned  them  in  the  Scriptures.  In  other 
words,  we  affirm  that  without  the  mystery  of  the 
God-man  and  without  the  mystery  of  the  cross 
there  is  no  real  revelation  and  no  real  redemption. 
If  Jesus  is  only  a  man,  superior  to  others  by  the 
purity  of  his  life  and  the  loftiness  of  his  soul;  if  he 
is  only  a  prophet  commissioned  by  God  with  a 
word  of  sympathy  for  us;  if  he  is  not  the  only-be- 
gotten Son  of  God  in  a  unique  and  absolute  sense, 


THE    DOCTRINES   OF   CHRISTIANITY.  I93 

then  he  is  no  longer  the  supreme  revealer  of  the 
Father  whom  our  souls  need.  If  he  was  not  from 
the  beginning  with  the  Father,  if  he  has  not 
known  himself  with  that  perfect  knowledge  which 
God  alone  can  have  of  himself,  then  he  cannot  re- 
veal him  unto  us.  If  he  cannot  say  in  truth,  "He 
that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father,"  then  he 
cannot  show  us  the  Father,  and  something  is  lack- 
ing in  the  redemption  he  brings  us.  Jesus  in  that 
case  becomes  only  an  intercessor,  superior  indeed 
to  others  and  nearer  than  others  to  him  whom  he 
announces,  but  who  is  yet  in  reality  an  obstacle 
between  God  and  man.  Now,  in  order  that  the 
religious  conscience  may  be  satisfied,  it  must  feel 
that  when  before  Jesus  it  is  in  the  presence  of  God 
himself,  the  living  and  true  God,  the  very  object 
of  religion.  It  must  recognize  iii  Jesus  him  who 
is  not  only  the  means,  but  the  end;  not  only  an 
index  to  life,  but  life  itself;  not  only  the  revealer, 
but  the  object  of  revelation.  For  really  every 
mediator  separates  and  hinders  even  when  striving 
to  unite  man  and  God;  he  conceals  while  reveal- 
ing, interferes  while  helping.  The  religious  soul 
needs  the  immediate  gift  of  God  in  order  to  unite 
itself  to  him. 

But  the  humanity  of  Jesus  Christ  is  not  less 
necessary  in  his  work  of  redemption  than  his 
divinity.     In  order  to  reveal  himself  to  man,  God 

13 


I94  RELIGIOUS   VALUE  OF 

must  come  down  within  our  reach;  it  is  neces- 
sary that  he  speak  a  language  that  we  can  under- 
stand, and  man  can  understand  only  when  he 
hears  a  human  voice.  This  is  why  God  appeared 
to  men  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  man  of  kind  and 
tender  heart,  as  Jesus,  who  has  caused  to  shine 
upon  earth  111  a  human  life  all  the  holiness  and 
love  of  God.  We  approach  Jesus  without  fear; 
for  is  he  not  our  brother  ?  Is  he  not  like  unto  us 
in  all  things?  Does  he  not  say  to  us  with  a  voice 
in  which  our  hearts  feel  genuine  human  sympa- 
thy, "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest"?  We  go 
to  him,  and  when  we  see  beyond  the  simple  and 
unpretentious  form  all  the  plenitude  of  God,  we 
cry  with  Thomas,  "My  L,ord  and  my  God!" 
Here  is  an  intimate  revelation  beyond  which 
nothing  is  needed,  for  God  gives  himself  to  us  in 
the  only  way  in  which  we  can  apprehend  him, 
and  he  gives  himself  wholly.  It  is  because  he  is 
very  God  and  very  man  that  Jesus  is  the  Redeemer. 
The  work  of  our  redemption  cannot  be  accom- 
plished from  without;  it  must  be  by  a  human  fact 
which  shall  be  the  counterpart  of  that  of  the  fall. 
It  is  humanity  that  lost  the  favor  of  God  in  Eden, 
so  humanity  must  be  represented  in  the  return 
unto  the  Father.  Man  brought  upon  himself 
through  disobedience  the  wrath  of  God,  so  man 


THE   DOCTRINES. OK   CHRISTIANITY.  195 

must  offer  unto  God  the  double  reparation  of  obe- 
dience and  punishment.  The  Redeemer  then 
must  be  one  of  us,  flesh  of  our  flesh  and  bone  of 
our  bone.  He  must  enter  fully  into  the  conditions 
of  our  moral  life;  he  must  be  tempted  as  we  are 
tempted,  that  he  be  acquainted  with  all  the  trials 
and  struggles  of  free  agents.  It  is  then  only  that 
he  can  offer  unto  God  his  perfect  obedience  in  our 
stead  and  receive  in  our  stead  the  chastisement 
intended  for  us. 

But  if  the  Redeemer  must  be  human  like  us, 
he  must  also  be  more  than  human.  He  must  be 
free  from  the  solidarity  of  sin  that  weighs  us  down 
so  heavily,  in  order  that  his  work  may  possess  uni- 
versal favor  and  be  efficacious.  The  entire  human 
race  must,  as  it  were,  be  incarnate  in  his  person. 
The  stream  of  humanity  must  flow  back  to  its 
source  in  order  to  make  a  new  start  and  flow  in  a 
contrary  direction.  Humanity  concentrated  in 
one  person  must  once  more  become  master  of  its 
destiny;  it  must  determine  itself  by  an  act  of  free 
obedience  to  God's  will,  as  it  had  formerly  deter- 
mined itself  in  opposition  to  God's  will  by  Adam's 
disobedience.  Neither  man  nor  angel  can  per- 
form so  great  a  mission  for  humanity.  This 
work  can  be  performed  only  by  him  who  is  at 
once  the  creator  and  the  type  of  man;  the  perfect 
image  of  his  person,  the  eternal  Logos,  is  the  ideal 


196  RELIGIOUS   VALUE   OF 

of  the  moral  creature.  He  was  from  the  begin- 
ning, say  the  Scriptures,  the  light  and  life  of  the 
world,  and  man  is  destined  to  become  like  him,  to 
realize  the  likeness  of  God  as  he  realizes  it  him- 
self. It  is  by  virtue  of  this  original  relation  that 
the  eternal  Logos  undertakes  the  cause  of  fallen 
man  and  becomes  the  second  Adam  who  repairs 
the  ruin  caused  by  the  first  Adam. 

Nor  is  this  all.  He  that  is  to  represent  human- 
ity before  God  must  satisfy  two  obligations  that 
exclude  each  other:  He  must  be  chastised  and 
obedient  at  the  same  time.  We  must,  in  fact, 
unite  ourselves  to  God  in  obedience  and  love — this 
is  our  duty  as  men;  and  we  must  be  separated 
from  him  by  chastisement — this  is  our  punishment 
as  sinners.  But  how  can  we  love  a  God  whom 
we  recognize  as  displeased  with  us,  how  unite 
ourselves  to  one  whose  presence  we  dread?  Jesus 
alone,  because  he  is  free  from  all  pollution,  be- 
cause he  is  the  Son  of  God,  the  eternal  delight  of 
the  Father,  is  able  to  render  unto  God  the  obe- 
dience and  love  that  we  owe.  He  alone,  too,  can 
offer  unto  God  as  an  acceptable  offering  his  holy 
life  and  his  voluntary  sufferings.  A  Christ,  at  the 
same  time  son  of  man  and  Son  of  God,  can  alone, 
therefore,  be  our  Saviour.  He  is,  too,  the  only 
God  that  the  human  soul  yearns  after  in  its  present 
condition.    To  accompany  us  through  this  earthly 


THE   DOCTRINES   OK   CHRISTIANITY.         1 97 

pilgrimage,  such  as  sin  has  made  it  for  us,  to  con- 
sole us  in  our  painful  hours  of  discouragement  and 
trial,  and  to  strengthen  us  in  times  of  temptation, 
we  need  a  God  in  whom  we  find  at  once  a  Brother 
and  a  God.  We  need  in  heaven  a  Brother  who 
understands  our  sufferings,  having  himself  suffered 
like  unto  us,  who  has  wept  as  we  weep,  who  has 
known  by  experience  the  weaknesses  of  the  flesh 
and  the  terrible  onslaughts  of  temptation,  one  who 
has  lived  our  life  and  travelled  the  same  difficult 
road  of  the  religious  life  that  we  are  obliged  to 
travel  in  order  to  reach  the  realms  of  bliss  at  God's 
right  hand.  For  how  could  we  carry  our  burdens 
to  a  God  who  inhabits  heaven  and  is  as  inacces- 
sible to  paiu  as  he  is  to  sin  ?  We  might  seem  to 
be  speaking  to  him  in  an  unknown  tongue  and  of 
things  the  full  force  of  which  he  could  not  feel:  is 
it  not  better  to  be  silent  than  to  speak  and  not  be 
understood?  But  with  what  freedom  and  confi- 
dence we  can  pour  the  burdens  of  our  hearts  into 
the  heart  of  Jesus  !  Is  he  not  the  Man  of  sorrows 
and  acquainted  with  grief?  Is  he  not,  by  actual 
experience,  acquainted  with  our  physical  and 
moral  sufferings?  Are  we  not  sure  that  in  him 
we  shall  find  an  ever-ready  sympathy  and  consola- 
tion, always  sufficient  to  our  troubles?  We  not 
only  need  the  sympathy  of  a  Brother,  we  also  need 
the  assistance  of  God.   What  an  incomparable  priv- 


I98  RELIGIOUS   VALUE   OF 

ilege  to  find  these  two  things  united  in  one  and 
the  same  person!  What  security  and  what  joy 
there  is  in  knowing  that  by  the  side  of  the  Brother 
who  can  always  sympathize  with  us  there  is  also, 
in  Jesus  Christ,  God  who  can  always  deliver  us ! 
It  is  not  in  vain  that  the  apostle  calls  the  mystery 
of  Jesus  "the  mystery  of  godliness. " 

What  is  true  of  the  mystery  of  godliness  is  also 
true  of  the  mystery  of  the  cross.  The  preaching 
of  the  cross  is  to  the  spirit  of  the  worldling  foolish- 
ness. Now  we  cannot  take  away  from  the  cross 
this  foolishness  without  taking  away  from  Chris- 
tianity its  religious  power.  For  what,  in  fact, 
remains  of  Christianity  if  you  subtract  from  it  the 
preaching  of  the  cross  ?  Nothing  but  the  example 
of  Jesus.  That  this  example  has  a  large  religious 
value  is  not  denied.  To  listen  to  the  words  of 
Jesus  and  contemplate  his  holy  life  is  a  great  ad- 
vantage to  the  soul  that  is  religiously  inclined; 
but  it  is  not  enough.  If  Jesus  offers  us  only  his 
sinless  example,  then  the  gospel,  instead  of  being 
the  good  news,  becomes,  like  the  law,  an  instru- 
ment of  condemnation  and  death.  For,  indeed, 
what  are  the  requirements  of  the  law  of  Moses 
compared  with  the  lofty  demands  of  the  law  of 
the  gospel  and  the  ideal  and  perfect  holiness  that 
shines  in  the  life  of  Jesus?  This  perfect  holiness 
would  only  cause  us  to  become  more  thoroughly 


THE    DOCTRINES    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  I99 

discouraged  and  overwhelmed  by  the  greatness  of 
our  sins  and  our  utter  helplessness.  It  is  not  enough 
that  Jesus  point  to  us  the  way  and  that  he  himself 
walk  therein  in  our  presence:  we  need  a  Saviour 
to  help  us  walk  in  the  way  of  holiness.  What 
would  it  avail  a  sick  man  to  show  him  a  healthy 
person  and  say  to  him,  "There,  do  like  him!" 
What  is  true  of  physical  disease  is  also  true  of 
moral  disease.  Contemplation  is  not  sufficient  to 
heal  it.  As  the  sick  person  needs  an  efficacious 
remedy,  so  the  sinner  needs  pardon  and  deliver- 
ance, and  it  is  by  suffering  for  us  upon  the  cross 
that  Jesus  Christ  brings  us  pardon  and  deliverance. 
The  expiation  of  Jesus  upon  the  cross  blots  out 
our  sins  and  breaks  the  chains  that  kept  us  hope- 
lessly separated  from  God. 

The  necessity  of  expiation  is  frequently  over- 
looked and  even  slightingly  spoken  of  in  this  age. 
The  pretence  is  put  forth  that  in  order  to  pardon 
the  sinner  God  has  no  need  of  so  many  intricacies, 
aiid  that  the  doctrine  of  expiation  offends  both 
reason  and  conscience.  But  I  affirm  that  without 
expiation  pardon  from  God  is  impossible;  and  I 
believe  that  this  is  also  the  affirmation  of  the 
human  conscience,  which  is  fully  satisfied  only  at 
the  foot  of  the  cross.  But  let  us  see.  What,  in 
fact,  does  the  conscience  proclaim?  It  affirms,  in 
the   first   place,  that  the  moral  law  cannot  exist 


200  RELIGIOUS  VALUE   OF 

without  a  sanction;  that  to  violate  that  law  is  to 
offend  its  Author;  that  God  cannot  consider  the 
guilty  as  innocent  without  ceasing  to  be  God;  and 
that  he  can  pardon  the  sinner  only  after  a  repara- 
tion has  been  made  sufficient  to  preserve  the  rights 
of  justice  and  law.  Conscience  itself  never  par- 
dons. It  pronounces  on  sin  an  irrevocable  sen- 
tence: the  sentiment  that  there  is  in  sin  something 
irreparable  always  accompanies  the  recollection  of 
sin.  This  is  what  gives  remorse  its  keenest  edge, 
and  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  more  inexorable 
than  remorse  of  conscience.  It  is  the  vulture  of 
Prometheus  bound  to  its  prey  always  alive.  It  is 
the  worm  that  dieth  not,  the  fire  that  is  never 
quenched.  The  tears  of  repentance  are  not  suf- 
ficient to  dispel  the  anxiety  of  conscience:  there 
must  be  expiation;  and  this. is  why,  as  we  have 
seen,  all  religions  have  their  expiatory  rites. 

The  cross  of  Christ  satisfies  these  profound 
instincts  of  the  conscience.  In  Christ  crucified 
humanity  has  at  last  found  that  perfect  expiation 
which  it  had  in  vain  sought  to  offer  unto  God. 
On  Calvary  has  been  offered  the  true  sacrifice,  the 
one  offering:  the  sacrifice  and  the  victim  sacrificed 
are  equally  holy;  and  this  sacrifice  itself  has  a 
moral  value  that  the  ancient  sacrifices  did  not 
possess:  it  is  at  once  a  voluntary  offering  and  a 
satisfaction  rendered  to  divine  justice.     In  immo- 


THE   DOCTRINES   OE   CHRISTIANITY.         201 

lating  himself  for  us  Jesus  has  satisfied  the  divine 
law  by  paying  for  us  the  debt  of  obedience  and 
punishment  that  is  held  against  us.  All  his  life 
was  a  long  expiation  and  obedience;  but  it  is  on 
Golgotha  that  obedience  and  love  have  been  made 
perfect.  Jesus  died  upon  the  cross  in  order  that 
God  might  be  just  and  yet  the  justifier  of  him  that 
believeth.  This  is  the  only  pardon  that  can  satisfy 
conscience.  It  would  protest  against  a  pardon 
that  would  lower  or  weaken  divine  law  and  that 
would  thereby  attack  divine  ^holiness.  The  holy 
God  to  whom  our  conscience  appeals  can  forgive 
the  sinner  only  by  punishing  sin. 

Pardon  begins  for  us  a  new  life.  God  having 
made  our  hearts  free,  we  can  walk  in  the  way  of 
his  commandments.  The  power  of  sin  having 
been  vanquished,  we  are  born  into  the  glorious 
liberty  of  the  children  of  God  and  are  made  capa- 
ble of  loving  and  serving  him.  Such  is  the  re- 
deeming virtue  of  the  cross;  but  it  is  not  the  only 
virtue,  for  it  has  also  on  other  accounts  an  incom- 
parable religious  value.  There  is  in  the  cross  of 
Christ  a  complete  revelation.  There  is  first  a 
revelation  of  man.  "The  religion  that  man 
needs,"  says  Pascal,  u  is  a  religion  that  at  once 
humbles  and  elevates  him,  that  makes  him  feel 
his  misery  and  his  greatness."  The  cross  reveals 
to  us  our  degradation  and   greatness,   the  great 


202  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OE 

value  of  our  nature  and  the  deep  abyss  into  which 
we  have  fallen.  What  must  be  the  worth  of  the 
human  soul,  if,  in  order  to  save  it,  God  has  given 
his  only-begotten  Son!  So,  too,  what  must  be 
the  profound  sinfulness  of  sin  if  the  Son  of  God 
was  sacrificed  in  order  to  blot  out  its  stain!  We 
may  be  permitted  to  be  emphatic  at  this  point, 
for  wherein  contemporary  religion  is  most  defect- 
ive is  in  the  sentiment  of  the  sinfulness  of  sin. 
Accustomed  as  we  are  to  live  in  the  very  midst  of 
sin,  the  atmosphere  which  we  breathe  is  so  im- 
pregnated with  it  that  finally  we  come  to  ignore 
its  sinfulness.  Men  plead  for  it  as  a  weakness, 
an  inevitable  legacy  of  human  nature,  and  they 
imagine  that  God  excuses  it  as  they  do.  Hold- 
ing such  views,  men  cease  contending  against  it 
and  finally  surrender  to  it  unconditionally  the 
empire  of  their  hearts.  Now  there  is  nothing  in 
the  world  so  well  adapted  to  give  us  just  views 
and  a  proper  estimate  of  sin  as  a  look  at  the  cross. 
Is  not  the  condemnation  of  the  just  and  holy  One 
the  great  masterpiece  of  human  wickedness?  Is 
it  not  the  crime  that  contains  all  crimes  and  that 
shows  to  what  extent  wickedness  will  go  ?  And 
when  the  Word  of  God  teaches  us  what  mystery 
is  wrought  upon  the  cross,  when  it  tells  us  it  was 
for  our  sins  that  the  Son  of  God  endured  such  suf- 
ferings and  ignominy,  we  understand,  as  we  never 


THE    DOCTRINES   OF   CHRISTIANITY.  203 

understood  before,  what  sin  is  in  the  sight  of  God. 
We  see  with  what  severity  God  judges  it  and  with 
what  vigor  he  condemns  it.  Never,  in  fact,  have 
the  judgments  of  God  against  sin  been  pronounced 
with  so  much  rigor.  Neither  when  our  first  pa- 
rents were  driven  from  Eden,  nor  when  the  entire 
earth  was  engulfed  by  the  deluge,  nor  when  the 
fire  from  heaven  burned  up  the  cities  did  God's 
judgments  come  with  greater  fury.  In  the  cross 
there  is  more  than  the  punishment  of  guilt,  more 
than  the  destruction  of  the  world — there  is  the 
agony,  the  death,  of  the  Son  of  God. 

But  the  cross  is  not  only  a  revelation  of  man, 
his  greatness  and  his  fall;  it  is  also  the  most  sub- 
lime revelation  of  God.  In  the  cross  we  behold 
the  holy  God.  We  see  especially  the  God  who  is 
love.  After  Golgotha  it  is  impossible  to  doubt 
that  God  is  love.  See  Rom.  8:35-39.  And  let  us 
observe  in  what  a  striking  manner  God's  love  is 
manifested  upon  the  cross.  It  reveals  itself  by 
suffering,  sacrifice,  that  is,  by  what  love  has  that 
is  most  persuasive  and  most  touching.  Without 
the  cross  something  seems  to  be  wanting  needful 
for  love's  finding  its  way  into  our  hearts.  Giv- 
ing one's  self  away,  sacrificing  one's  self  for  the 
one  we  love,  constitute  the  very  essence  of  love. 
We  know  that  God  does  not  give  himself  away. 
But  by  a  supreme  miracle  God  has  found  a  way 


204  RELIGIOUS   VALUE   OF 

of  giving  us  an  irresistible  proof  of  his  love:  he 
delivers  for  us  his  own  Son,  and  shows  by  the 
greatness  of  his  gift  to  what  an  extent  he  has 
loved  us. 

This  love  of  God  towards  us,  manifested  upon 
the  cross,  provokes  our  love  for  him.  Why  should 
we  not  love  a  God  who  has  so  loved  us  ?  How 
refuse  any  service  to  one  who  has  given  for  us  his 
only  Son?  In  return  for  such  a  love  we  shall 
give  him  our  hearts;  to  his  cause  our  lives  shall 
be  consecrated.  Here  is  shown  with  force  the  re- 
ligious value  of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity. 
God  causes  us  to  love  him  by  his  first  having 
loved  us;  and  loving  God,  is  not  this  the  fulfilling 
of  the  law,  is  it  not  all  of  religion  ?  The  cross 
also  teaches  us  to  love  our  fellow-men.  It  is 
from  the  rock  of  Calvary  that  has  started  that 
stream  which  has  flowed  during  eighteen  centu- 
ries over  the  world,  carrying  everywhere  the  alle- 
viation, not  only  of  physical  suffering,  but  also  of 
moral  suffering.  Men  may  say  that  the  doctrines 
of  the  cross  are  foolishness,  but  let  them  not  say 
that  they  are  barren;  for  history  and  the  experi- 
ence of  man  for  eighteen  centuries  are  there  to 
contradict  it. 

Let  us  briefly  notice  the  religious  value  of 
other  Christian  doctrines  that  have  either  been 
ignored  or  denied.     The  resurrection  of  Jesus  has 


THE   DOCTRINES  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  20$ 

been  considered  of  no  religious  importance.  On 
the  contrary,  we  deem  it  of  the  very  greatest  im- 
portance and  value  to  our  religious  life.  It  is  one 
of  the  great  facts  of  Christianity,  with  which  it 
either  stands  or  falls.  If  Jesus  is  not  risen  from 
the  dead,  then  nothing  remains  of  his  person  or 
his  work.  If  he  did  not  rise  from  the  dead,  he  is 
not  the  Son  of  God.  If  the  grave  retained  him  in 
its  embrace,  then  he  is  not  the  Prince  of  life.  If  he 
remained  as  other  men,  the  prey  of  the  tomb,  then 
he  is  as  other  men.  Nay,  he  has  lost  his  right 
to  our  confidence  and  respect,  for  he  passed  him- 
self for  what  he  was  not.  He  had  said,  I  am  the 
Son  of  God;  no  man  taketh  away  my  life  from 
me:  I  have  power  to  lay  it  down  and  power  to 
take  it  again.  He  had  solemnly  proclaimed  on 
several  occasions  that  he  would  rise  on  the  third 
day;  and  if  he  did  not  rise,  then  the  facts  give  a 
flat  contradiction  to  his  words.  Was  he  himself 
deceived  or  did  he  deceive  others  ?  Must  we  ac- 
cuse him  of  hallucination  or  falsehood?  But  if 
Jesus  is  a  visionary  dreamer,  how  explain  the 
sublime  lessons  contained  in  his  sublime  reveries? 
If  he  is  an  impostor,  how  can  we  believe  in  that 
ideal  purity  with  which  his  brow  is  crowned  ?  If 
Jesus  is  not  risen  from  the  dead,  he  is  no  longer 
the  man  whose  moral  perfection  has  never  been 
equalled  or  surpassed;  for  every  man  whose  judg- 


206  RELIGIOUS  VALUE   OF 

ment  is  sound  and  whose  conscience  is  keen  is 
morally  superior  to  him.  The  same  cause  that 
would  bring  him  down  from  the  high  pedestal  on 
which  the  faith  of  the  church  has  always  beheld 
him  would  also  bring  him  down  from  the  high 
place  that  even  those  have  assigned  him  who  do 
not  believe  in  him.  If  Jesus  is  not  risen  from  the 
dead,  then  he  is  not  the  Redeemer;  all  his  work 
is  vain  and  we  are  still  under  the  bondage  of  sin. 
It  is  sin  that  gives  death  its  power,  for  death  is 
the  wages  of  sin.  If,  therefore,  Jesus  has  re- 
mained in  the  grave,  the  signification  is  that 
there  was  no  expiation  for  sin  upon  the  cross.  It 
still  exists;  the  burden  is  still  upon  us  with  all  its 
force  and  it  still  brings  upon  our  heads  the  wrath 
of  God,  and  nothing  remains  for  us  to  do  but  to 
bewail  our  vain  hope  and  seek  in  another  saviour 
the  restoration  to  God's  favor  which  Jesus  vainly 
attempted  to  accomplish  for  us.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  whole  situation  is  changed  if  Jesus 
Christ  is  really  risen  from  the  dead  as  he  said  he 
would.  God  has  accepted  the  sacrifice  of  Calvary: 
Jesus  is  in  very  truth  he  that  taketh  away  the  sins 
of  the  world.  Henceforth  reparation  has  been 
made  for  all  the  consequences  of  sin,  and  man 
has  been  pardoned  and  has  found  the  favor  of  God 
and  communion  with  him. 

But  pardon  is  not  all  of  salvation.     It  is  not 


THE   DOCTRINES  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  207 

enough  that  we  are  delivered  from  the  curse  and 
slavery  of  sin ;  we  must  also  be  regenerated  and 
sanctified.  A  Saviour  whose  work  would  cease 
with  blotting  out  our  past  and  who  would  leave 
us  helpless  and  alone  for  the  future — in  our  weak- 
ness to  complete  the  work  of  our  sanctification — 
would  not  save  us  to  the  uttermost.  We  need  a 
Saviour  who,  after  having  saved  us,  can  also  sanc- 
tify us;  a  Saviour  ever  present  with  us,  who  will 
constantly  stand  at  our  side  in  temptation  to  up- 
hold us  lest  we  fall  and  to  give  us  each  day 
strength  for  the  present.  Now,  a  Saviour  dead 
and  in  the  grave  cannot  be  such  a  helper.  To 
lead  and  help  us  through  this  life  we  need  a  liv- 
ing Saviour,  clothed  with  the  power  of  God,  a 
Saviour  such  as  the  Gospels  represent  Jesus — risen 
from  the  dead  the  third  day  and  ascended  up  to 
heaven,  where  he  sitteth  at  God's  right  hand  to 
make  intercession  for  us. 

The  resurrection  is  thus  the  warrant  of  our 
resurrection,  and  as  such,  too,  this  doctrine  has 
an  incontestable  religious  value.  In  the  midst 
of  the  vicissitudes  and  turmoils  of  this  life  man 
needs  consolation  and  hope.  So  most  religious 
and  philosophical  systems  promise  him  a  future 
life,  where  all  the  disorders  of  this  present  life 
shall  be  harmonized  and  where  he  will  taste  that 
perfect  happiness  which  he  seeks  in  vain  in  this 


208  RELIGIOUS   VALUE  OF 

present  world.  But  what  could  be  more  vague 
and  futile  than  the  future  existence  offered  man 
by  the  religious  systems  of  antiquity  ?  How  vain 
are  such  perspectives  to  dispel  the  terror  that 
death  brings  to  the  human  heart !  Instead  of 
this  problematic  and  cloudy  immortality,  Chris- 
tianity gives  us  clear,  definite  promises  and  living 
realities.  It  reveals  to  us  by  a  clear  fact  of  his- 
tory our  future  destiny.  Jesus  Christ  has  shown 
himself  upon  the  earth  what  we  shall  be  in  heav- 
en. He  is  the  celestial  Man,  whose  image  we 
shall  bear  just  as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the 
terrestrial  man.  We,  too,  shall  break  the  stone  of 
this  sepulchre  and  shall  put  on  a  body  like  unto 
the  body  of  our  glorified  Redeemer. 

Who  can  properly  estimate  the  value  of  this 
glorious  hope?  Ask  some  Christian  who  has 
been  bereft  of  some  beloved  friends;  he  will  an- 
swer you  that  it  is  a  supreme  consolation  for  him 
to  know  that  he  will,  some  day,  meet  them  again 
and  know  them  as  he  once  knew  them,  that  he 
will  again  see  them  with  his  own  eyes.  Inquire 
of  those  who  have  been  acquainted  with  physical 
suffering,  and  they  will  reply  that  they  have  felt 
their  burdens  becoming  lighter  and  easier  when 
they  learned  that  they  would  exchange  these  poor 
weak  bodies  for  bodies  of  eternal  youth,  inaccessi- 
ble to  the  pangs  of  sickness  or  pain.     These  per- 


THE   DOCTRINES  OF  CHRISTIANITY.         2CQ 

spectives  which  Christianity  gives  us  here  below 
are  needed  to  keep  up  our  hearts  and  feed  our 
courage.  A  religion  without  hope  and  promise 
would  not  be  a  true  religion. 

It  is  not,  of  course,  within  the  limits  of  a 
brief  article  like  this  that  this  vast  subject  can  be 
exhaustively  treated.  One  more  doctrine  must 
suffice — the  Trinity.  It  is  claimed  that  this  doc- 
trine is  inadmissible  from  a  philosophical  point  of 
view.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  doctrine  of 
the  trinity  seems  to  us  to  possess  a  high  religious 
value.  Let  it  first  be  understood  that  by  the  trin- 
ity is  not  meant  any  particular  theory,  but  the 
clear  and  indisputable  revelation  of  a  fact  of  Scrip- 
ture. God  reveals  himself  as  the  Father  who  has 
created  us,  the  Son  who  redeems  us,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  who  sanctifies  us;  and  to  this  triple  or  tri- 
une revelation  of  God  corresponds  a  mysterious 
plurality  that  makes  of  him  the  living  God,  the 
God-mam  and  the  God-love. 

The  knowledge  of  this  fact  is  not  indifferent 
to  our  religious  life.  It  is  implied  in  the  plan  of 
salvation,  and  without  it  everything  becomes 
doubtful  and  uncertain.  The  work  of  redemption 
implies  a  redeemer.  The  plan  of  salvation  could 
be  conceived  by  divine  love,  but  could  not  be 
realized  in  history  except  on  condition  that  some 
one  existed  to  execute  it.     What  would  have  be- 

14 


2IO  RELIGIOUS  VALUE   OF 

come  of  this  plan  if  the  God-man  had  not  been 
there,  the  only  one  able  to  carry  it  into  complete 
execution  ?  The  good-will  of  the  Father  towards 
us  would  have  been  vain  if  from  the  beginning 
the  Son  had  not  been  there  to  say  to  the  Father, 
"  Behold,  I  come  to  do  thy  will." 

So  too  the  work  of  our  sanctification  implies  a 
sanctifier,  a  Spirit  capable  of  acting  upon  our  spir- 
its; a  Spirit  of  light  that  enlightens  our  hearts  and 
makes  accessible  to  them  the  things  that  are  not 
revealed  to  the  carnal  heart;  a  Spirit  of  holiness 
that  transforms  our  hearts,  inclines  our  wills,  and 
becomes  in  us  the  principle  of  a  new  life;  finally, 
a  Spirit  that  reveals  unto  us  the  Son  as  the  Son 
reveals  to  us  the  Father,  and  who  communicates 
unto  us  ail  the  riches  of  grace.  The  doctrine  of 
the  trinity  is  thus  intimately  and  vitally  identified 
with  our  religious  life  from  its  very  birth. 

But  more  than  this.  The  doctrines  of  Scrip- 
ture are  the  only  sure  foundation  for  the  belief  in 
a  living  and  personal  God,  without  whom — even 
our  adversaries  recognize  this  fact — no  religious 
life  is  possible.  Outside  of  Christian  revelation 
the  soul  is  doomed  to  incessant  oscillation  between 
deism,  which  is  the  negative  of  the  living  God, 
and  pantheism,  which  is  the  negative  of  a  per- 
sonal God.  Some  have  imagined  thev  could  steer 
clear  of  this  double  difficulty  by  making  the  world 


THE   DOCTRINES  OE  CHRISTIANITY.  211 

itself  the  eternal  object  of  divine  activity.  Then 
in  that  case  God  would  cease  to  be  self-sufficient, 
for  he  could  no  more  do  without  the  world  than 
the  world  could  do  without  him.  God  would 
then  realize  and  complete  himself  in  the  universe, 
aud  this  is  pantheism.  Alone  the  God  of  the 
Scriptures  can  do  without  the  world,  because  he 
contains  in  his  own  essence  the  mystery  of  life 
and  love.  Alone,  too,  he  is  the  Creator  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  word.  If  he  creates,  it  is  not  in 
order  to  obey  a  necessity  of  his  nature,  but  it  is 
by  an  act  of  freedom.  The  universe  is  not  the 
eternal  and  necessary  expression  of  divine  life, 
for  God  has  in  himself  his  perfect  manifestation, 
his  living  image;  the  eternal  Logos  is  a  miracle 
of  goodness,  not  of  necessity.  And  hence  nature, 
the  product  of  divine  freedom,  is  not  to  this  free- 
dom a  limit  and  an  obstacle;  it  is  in  God's  hand 
a  docile  instrument.  There  is  room  in  the  uni- 
verse and  in  history  for  the  free  intervention  of 
God's  love.  The  supernatural  of  revelation  is 
but  the  logical  result  of  the  supernatural  of  crea- 
tion. Now  what  is  indispensable  to  a  religious 
life  is  a  God,  the  Creator  and  sovereign  Master  of 
the  universe;  a  God  who  is  not  fettered  by  the 
laws  which  he  has  made,  but  who  is  distinct 
from  the  world  and  superior  to  it,  who  is  able  to 
intervene  in  the  world  in  behalf  of  his  creatures. 


212  RELIGIOUS   VALUE   OF 

In  closing  let  me  call  attention  to  a  double 
fact  which  strikingly  justifies  the  theme  at  the 
head  of  this  paper.  First,  the  New  Testament 
everywhere  exhibits  the  closest  union  between 
religious  life  and  the  mysteries  of  •  Christianity. 
Nothing  could  be  less  theological  or  savor  less  of 
speculation  than  the  writings  of  the  apostles. 
They  always  view  things  from  the  practical  side 
and  are  invariably  concerned  with  the  Christian 
life  and  its  growth  in  the  soul.  To  encourage 
them  that  suffer,  correct  them  that  wander,  lift  up 
them  that  have  fallen,  urge  upon  all  daily  vigilance 
and  charity  as  the  fruits  of  faith,  this  is  the  first 
aim  of  their  pens.  But  as  it  is  faith  that  pro- 
duces work,  as  truth  precedes  life,  they  do  not 
hesitate  to  ascend  from  consequences  to  principles, 
and  they  base  all  their  practical  exhortations 
upon  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  To  show  this 
fully  we  would  have  to  quote  the  entire  New 
Testament.  A  few  examples  must  suffice.  The 
apostle  Paul,  exhorting  the  early  Christians  to 
the  practice  of  humility  and  charity,  urges  them 
to  take  upon  themselves  the  spirit  that  was  in 
Christ,  "Who  being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought 
it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God;  but  made 
himself  of  no  reputation  and  took  upon  him 
the  form  of  a  servant  and  was  made  in  the  like- 
ness of  men.     And  bein£  found  in   fashion  as  a 


THE   DOCTRINES  OF  CHRISTIANITY.         21  3 

man,  he  humbled  himself  and  became  obedi- 
ent unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross.' ' 
Phil.  2 : 5-8.  The  same  apostle,  pressing  upon  us 
the  duty  of  consecrating-  our  lives  to  God's  ser- 
vice, makes  use  of  these  words:  "And  that  he 
died  for  all,  that  they  which  live  should  not 
henceforth  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him 
which  died  for  them  and  rose  again."  2  Cor. 
5:15.  The  apostle  Peter,  in  order  to  induce  us 
to  continue  with  vigor  the  war  against  sin,  re- 
calls to  our  minds  at  what  infinite  cost  the  for- 
giveness of  our  sins  has  been  obtained.  He  says, 
"Forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  ye  were  not  re- 
deemed with  corruptible  things,  as  silver  and 
gold,  but  with  the  precious  blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot.'1 
1  Pet.  1:18,  19.  And  the  apostle  John,  putting 
into  a  single  line  all  of  Christian  life  and  doc- 
trine and  the  intimate  bonds  that  unite  them, 
exclaims,  "We  love  him  because  he  first  loved 
us."  1  John  4:19.  The  conclusions  that  are 
most  closely  impressed  with  dogmatic  teaching 
are  invariably  concluded  by  the  application  of 
the  same  to  the  religious  life  of  the  believer.  So 
Paul,  after  having  expounded  the  entire  plan  of 
salvation  and  unfolded  its  various  phases  in  hu- 
man history,  exclaims,  "I  beseech  you  therefore, 
brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present 


214  RELIGIOUS   VALUE  OF 

your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable 
unto  God,  which  is  your  reasonable  service." 
Rom.  12:1.  And  in  another  place,  after  having 
unfolded  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead  and  opened  to  our  view  the  perspectives  of 
the  future  world,  he  adds,  "  Therefore,  my  be- 
loved brethren,  be  ye  steadfast,  unmovable,  al- 
ways abounding  in .  the  work  of  the  Lord,  foras- 
much as  ye  know  that  your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in 
the  Lord."  1  Cor.  15:58.  Even  the  definitions 
that  we  find  in  the  Scriptures  are  turned  to  prac- 
tical account  by  the  sacred  writers  as  bearing 
upon  our  religious  life.  St.  John  says,  "God  is 
light,"  and  he  immediately  adds,  "If  we  say  that 
we  have  fellowship  with  him,  and  walk  in  dark- 
ness, we  lie  and  do  not  the  truth."  1  John  1:6. 
These  citations  from  the  Scriptures  might  be 
multiplied  indefinitely,  and  everywhere  we  would 
find  the  Scriptures  presenting  the  great  doctrines 
of  faith  as  the  foundation  of  our  peace  with  God 
and  the  principles  of  Christian  life.  Hence  we 
may  affirm  that  in  the  eyes  of  the  apostles  Chris- 
tian life  is  Christian  doctrine  applied  to  our  every- 
day life;  it  is  the  miracles  of  grace  producing 
in  the  Christian  life  the  miracles  of  charity. 
This  testimony  of  the  New  Testament  the  voice 
of  history  corroborates  as  a  matter  of  fact.  It  is 
the  foolishness  of  the  cross  that  has  conquered 


THE   DOCTRINES  OF   CHRISTIANITY.  215 

and  transformed  the  world.  .  When  Christians 
have  most  implicitly  believed  in  the  cross  they 
have  astonished  the  world  by  the  holiness  of  their 
lives.  But  when  faith  in  the  great  evangelical 
doctrines  of  Christianity  has  become  weak  or  al- 
tered in  the  church,  the  religious  life  of  believers 
has  correspondingly  languished  and -religious  life 
itself  has  lost  its  hold  upon  the  human  conscience. 
This  is  a  fact  that  is  as  conspicuous  in  history  as 
the  light  of  the  sun  at  high  noon.  The  declension 
of  religious  life  has  invariably  been  preceded  by 
the  declension  and  weakness  of  faith  in  the  doc- 
trines of  Christianity.  The  more  dim  the  person 
and  the  cross  of  Jesus  have  become  to  the  human 
heart,  the  more  pale  and  feeble  piety  and  charity 
in  the  church  have  become.  We  may  affirm 
without  fear  of  successful  contradiction  that  the 
weakness  or  strength  of  religious  life  in  the  church 
of  Christ  corresponds  with  the  weak  or  strong 
faith  in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity. 

From  what  precedes  we  are  justified  in  this 
conclusion:  To  weaken  or  mutilate  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity  is  to  weaken  or  mutilate  religious 
life.  All  that  men  subtract  from  the  mystery  of 
God's  love  manifested  upon  the  cross  they  sub- 
tract at  the  same  time  from  the  peace  of  con- 
science and  happiness  of  the  Christian  believer. 

Let  us,  then,  from  every  housetop,  affirm  the 


2l6  RELIGIOUS   VALUE   OF    DOCTRINES. 

doctrines  of  Christianity.  L,et  there  be  no  sub- 
traction or  evasion,  but  let  us  affirm  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity  entire.  They  are  just  as  true  to-day 
as  when  Jesus  gave  them  forth,  and  just  as  much 
needed  now  as  they  were  then.  What  this  age 
needs,  what  the  church  needs,  is  not  a  diluted 
Christianity,  fashioned  after  the  supposed  taste 
of  contemporary  thought,  but  a  Christianity  with 
all  its  angles  and  all  the  foolishness  of  the  cross; 
for  that  is  the  only  Christianity  that  convicts  of 
sin  and  saves  the  soul:  a  Christianity  never  new, 
never  old,  that  has  saved  all  the  redeemed  now 
in  heaven ;  a  Christianity  that  does  not  scare  at 
shadows,  but,  taking  its  two  foci  in  sin  and  re- 
demption, takes  the  sinner  through  the  vicarious 
sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ  to  present  him  spotless 
in  the  presence  of  our  Heavenly  Father. 


Unity  of  Faith 


A    PROOF 


OF   THE 


Divine  Origin  and  Preservation 
of  Christianity. 

BY 

REV.  JOHN  STOUGHTON,  D.  D. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  TRACT. 


The  design  of  this  tract  is  to  show  the  large  meas- 
ure of  unity  which  exists  in  the  hearts  and  thoughts  of 
Christians,  notwithstanding  manifold  differences  and 
controversies,  and  the  large  measure  of  agreement  to 
be  found  in  the  creeds  of  Christendom  from  the  earliest 
to  the  latest  periods  in  church  history.  The  evidence 
of  this  agreement  in  relation  to  the  Unity  and  Father- 
hood of  God,  the  condition  of  man,  the  doctrine  of 
Christ,  the  personality  and  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
salvation  by  faith,  the  future  or  "the  last  things,"  also 
the  authority  of  Scripture,  in  the  formulated  doctrines 
of  the  various  branches  of  the  professing  church,  is  ex- 
amined. The  records  of  experience  in  Christian  biog- 
raphy and  the  expression  of  deep  convictions  and  de- 
sires among  believers  of  every  name  in  Christian  hymns 
are  also  noticed;  and  the  conclusion  is  reached  that 
having  regard  to  the  acceptance  of  Christianity  by  peo- 
ple of  every  race,  the  unique  and  peculiar  character  of 
the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity,  the  unparalleled 
character  of  its  literature,  the  diverse  idiosyncrasies  of 
race  and  individual  character,  and  the  natural  aversion 
of  the  human  heart  to  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  nothing 
but  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit  can  account  for  the 
unity  of  faith  which  exists  and  has  existed  from  the  be- 
ginning. It  is  shown  also  how  the  New  Testament  an- 
ticipated what  has  actually  occurred. 


UNITY  OF  FAITH 


The  divisions  of  Christendom  are  sadly  mani- 
fest. Eastern  and  Western,  Lutheran,  Calvinis- 
tic,  and  other  churches  are  encompassed  by  dense 
clouds  of  controversy.  It  might  have  been  con- 
jectured that  there  would  be  manifest  and  indis- 
putable agreement  among  Christ's  followers;  but 
actual  history  differs  from  ideal  ones.  Many  there- 
fore turn  from  Christianity  with  distrust,  in  some 
cases  with  aversion.  Yet,  looking  at  human  na- 
ture, differences  of  opinion  in  this  department  of 
human  thought  seem  inevitable,  since  no  subjects 
of  an  intellectual  kind  can  be  excluded  from  the 
domain  of  free  discussion  except  mathematical 
axioms  and  demonstrations.  If  no  varieties  of 
conclusion  existed  in  religious  history,  such  a  fact 
would  be  made  an  objection  to  the  thing  itself,  as 
inimical  to  all  liberty  of  investigation,  as  crush- 
ing mental  activity,  as  mechanically  stereotyping 
the  ideas  of  its  disciples.  The  very  controversies 
charged  upon  it,  and  which  are,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, too  often  conducted  on  principles  and  in  a 


220  UNITY   OF    FAITH. 

spirit  which  good  men  deplore,  at  any  rate  bear 
witness  to  it  as  a  power  which  has  stirred  human- 
ity to  the  utmost  and  called  forth  the  exercise  of 
its  faculties  with  preeminent  vigor. 

The  most  striking  points  of  difference,  at  least 
those  which  first  attract  the  notice  of  superficial 
observers,  relate  to  ecclesiastical  questions  and 
forms  of  worship.  What  constitutes  a  Christian 
church  ?  What  is  the  true  order  of  the  ministry  ? 
What  distinctions  are  there  in  its  offices  ?  What 
relations  ought  to  be  maintained  between  its  in- 
stitutions and  secular  society  ?  What  are  the  sacra- 
ments which  Christ  ordained  for  the  benefit  of  his 
people?  What  is  the  Scriptural  mode  of  service  in 
the  house  of  God,  liturgical  or  extempore,  ritual- 
istic or  simple?  What  is  the  best  method  of  work- 
ing out  practically  the  religious  and  benevolent 
purposes  of  the  gospel  ?  these  are  questions  which 
have  been  and  are  obviously  in  dispute  between 
the  different  sections  of  ancient  and  modern  Chris- 
tendom. But  underneath  these  contentions  in  a 
multitude  of  cases  may  be  found  an  agreement  in 
fundamental  beliefs  of  doctrine  as  properly  dis- 
tinguishable from  organization  and  observances. 
Happily,  many  members  of  all  churches  are  es- 
sentially one  in  these  convictions.  Besides,  they 
heartily  unite  to  circulate  those  Scriptures  to 
which  they  alike  appeal  as  the  ground  of  their 


PRELIMINARY   THOUGHTS.  221 

faith — conscious  submission  to  the  authority  of 
the  Bible  being  a  vital  bond  of  union.  Further, 
they  can  heartily  and  zealously  cooperate  in  the 
diffusion  of  Christian  and  healthy  literature  on  a 
large  variety  of  subjects. 

But  after  all  there  remain  many  points  of  doc- 
trinal diversity,  and  with  these  we  propose  to 
deal,  showing  that  a  large  amount  of  united  be- 
lief lies  in  the  centre  of  theological  divergencies. 

A  formal  creed,  some  may  think,  was  desira- 
ble at  the  opening  of  the  Christian  era.  No  such 
creed,  however,  can  be  found;  for  what  is  gen- 
erally called  "the  Apostles'  Creed"  is  composed 
of  elementary  statements  gathered  from  different 
authors,  who  indeed  wrote  under  the  influence  of 
apostolic  teaching,  and  have  given  us  the  sub- 
stance of  historical  and  doctrinal  truth  handed 
down  from  the  earliest  date;  but  the  document 
now  so  often  devoutly  repeated  was  not  composed 
by  the  inspired  twelve  in  the  form  in  which  it 
has  come  down  to  the  present  day.  That  creed 
however  is  generally  acknowledged  by  the  Chris- 
tian church,  and  is  a  basis  of  union  inestimably 
precious.  No  one  who  was  present  at  the  Evan- 
gelical Conference  of  New  York  in  1873  can  ever 
forget  the  effect  produced  by  the  repetition  of 
those  simple  and  beautiful  words  by  representa- 
tives of  evangelical  churches  of  America,  Europe, 


222  UNITY   OF   FAITH. 

Africa,  and  Asia.  A  creed  more  elaborate  and  of 
minuter  detail,  if  framed  at  the  beginning,  would 
not  have  secured  perfect  unanimity  of  opinion 
in  particulars  of  minor  description  any  more 
than  the  Bible  itself  has  done.  Some  diversities 
of  thought  are  inevitable.  No  formal  creed,  no 
comprehensive  and  professedly  strict  organisation, 
has  ever  produced  mental  uniformity.  It  never 
can.  Truth  has  many  sides;  and  before  the  canon 
of  Scripture  was  settled  various  aspects  of  truth 
came  before  individual  minds,  and  partial  appre- 
hensions were  natural  results.  They  would  carry 
a  lasting  influence;  and  this  fact,  in  connection 
with  differences  of  race  and  of  idiosyncrasy,  as 
well  as  the  influence  of  education  and  other  cir- 
cumstances, had  a  tendency  to  produce,  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  varieties  of  impression.  In 
history,  in  science  founded  on  observation,  and  in 
all  departments  of  metaphysical  philosophy,  an- 
tagonisms arise;  and  though  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
promised  to  lead  the  church  into  all  truth,  for 
purposes  of  holiness,  for  growth  in  grace,  for  the 
quickening  of  divine  life,  there  is  nothing  in  that 
promise  to  warrant  the  expectation  that  commu- 
nities and  individuals  will  all  agree  in  the  mental 
perception  of  every  subject  included  within  the 
range  of  divine  teaching. 

.  Theological  differences  on  some  points  and  reli- 


PRELIMINARY   THOUGHTS.  223 

gious  unity  as  to  main  principles  are  quite  com- 
patible. Theological  differences  are  chiefly  intel- 
lectual, but  religious  unity  is  spiritual  and  moral, 
having  more  to  do  with  the  heart  and  will  than 
with  the  understanding  and  reason.  There  is 
after  all  far  more  unity  amid 'diversities  of  theo- 
logical opinion  than  is  apparent  to  those  who  are 
not  largely  acquainted  with  the  history  and  inner 
life  of  Christendom.  A  vast  unity,  lying  in  the 
depths  of  sanctified  souls,  is  beautifully  revealed 
as  we  read  memoirs  of  men  belonging  to  different 
denominations.  Some  grand  truths,  which  they 
have  laid  hold  of  with  a  firm  grip,  were  perhaps 
little  expected  to  be  seen  in  these  letters  and  dia- 
ries; hence  they  have  awakened  surprise  in  read^- 
ers  who  had  only  heard  of  them  as  identified  with 
communities  separate  from  their  own.  The  old 
saying  that  "blood  is  thicker  than  water"  has 
been  verified  as  Christians  have  recognized  a  kin- 
ship  of  spiritual  life  in  those  whom  they  had  igno- 
rantly  imagined  as  being  "strangers  and  foreign- 
ers." Further  than  that,  there  is  in  intellectual 
apprehensions  of  doctrine  more  of  approximation, 
more  of  real  resemblance,  than  at  first  is  visible. 
Divisions  are  apparent  at  a  glance;  but  deeper 
inquiry,  more  patient  study,  brings  to  light  fun- 
damental agreements,  at  the  sight  of  which  much 
that    before    stood   out    forbiddingly  within    the 


224  UNITY   OF    FAITH. 

sphere  of  critical  vision  melts  away,  if  not  into 
invisibility,  yet  into  comparative  insignificance. 
Many  a  dispute  which  has  agitated  what  is  called 
the  religious  world,  when  calmly  looked  at  is 
found  to  have  originated  in  ambiguity  of  lan- 
guage, it  may  be  in  the  different  meanings  of  the 
same  word. 

A  special  value  should  be  attached  to  unity  of 
faith  between  different  religious  fellowships.  It 
is  of  much  more  worth,  it  tells  much  more  power- 
fully in  argument,  than  myriads  of  subscriptions 
to  the  same  articles  and  untold  repetitions  of  the 
same  creed. 

A  free  acceptance  of  certain  views  founded  on 
personal  conviction  is  utterly  different  from  a 
formal  consent  arising  merely  from  the  imposi- 
tion of  ecclesiastical  authorities.  The  former  is 
precious,  and  is  a  witness  for  the  truth  professed; 
the  latter  is  utterly  worthless,  and  proves  nothing. 

It  is  our  purpose  to  point  out  in  this  tract  an 
existent  unity  of  faith,  and  to  place  it  side  by  side 
with  differences — the  very  darkness  which  it 
serves  to  bring  out  by  force  of  contrast  increases 
the  radiance  of  the  light — and  at  the  end  to  show 
how  this  unity  bears  upon  the  evidence  of  the 
gospel  being  of  divine  origin.  As  we  proceed, 
let  it  be  remembered  that  contrasts  are  not  always 
contradictions,  and  that  what  seems  at  first  like 


PRELIMINARY  THOUGHTS.  225 

opposition  may  be  found  to  be  simply  the  effect 
of  looking  at  the  same  thing  on  opposite  sides. 
Moreover,  in  comparing  past  and  present  opin- 
ions, account  must  be  taken  of  the  progress  of 
Christian  thought.  The  Word  of  God  liveth  and 
abideth  for  ever.  Like  its  Author,  it  knoweth  no 
variableness  nor  shadow  of  turning.     - 

"The  Holy  Scripture  contains  within  itself 
all  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge,  but  only 
renders  up  those  treasures  by  little  and  little  as 
they  are  needed  and  asked  for. ' '  * 

"  It  was  a  necessity — a  hard,  iron,  unavoida- 
ble necessity — that  made  men  in  the  times  of 
Arius  and  Pelagius,  of  Tetzel  and  Voltaire,  to 
search  the  treasures  which  the  body  of  Christ  has 
received  stored  up  in  the  Bible;  the  Spirit  of 
truth,  always  at  work,  was  especially,  working  at 
times  like  those,  leading  the  disciples  of  our  Lord 
of  later  date  further  into  the  realms  of  that  truth 
of  which  Christ  possesses  the  master  key."f 

The  canon  of  Scripture  was  closed  with  the 
last  inspired  writer  of  the  New  Testament.  It  is 
absurd  to  suppose  that  the  truth  embodied  in  the 
sacred  books  can  undergo  any  alteration.  A 
growth  in  Scripture  itself  is  inconceivable.  A 
germination  of  divine  seeds  dropped  into  human 

*  Trench's  "  Hulsean  Lectures,"  1845,  No.  8. 
f  Swainson  on  the  "  Creeds,"  p.  99. 
*5 


226  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

minds  and  hearts — that  is  something  essentially 
different,  though  often  thoughtlessly  confounded 
with  the  former.  The  labors  of  learned  and 
thoughtful  men  in  the  investigation  of  the  Bible 
must  never  be  imagined  to  have  gone  for  noth- 
ing. Students  have  dug  under  the  surface, 
they  have  driven  shafts  into  mines  of  wondrous 
wealth,  they  have  brought  to  the  surface  "gold 
and  silver  and  precious  stones,"  and  we  of  the 
nineteenth  century  have  grown  richer  in  divine 
stores  through  sanctified  human  toil.  "Other 
men  labored,  and  we  have  entered  into  their  la- 
bors." The  abiding  Comforter  was  promised  to 
lead  Christ's  disciples  into  all  truth ;  and  studies 
through  nineteen  centuries,  devoutly  pursued  by 
those  in  whom  this  Spirit  has  dwelt,  yield  results 
in  which  we  should  rejoice.  When  the  mind  of 
the  church  has  been  ripened  to  accept  certain  for- 
mulated results  of  study,  when  large  numbers  of 
Christians  are  led  to  recognize  truths  deduced 
from  divine  oracles,  a  proof  of  divine  guidance  is 
to  be  found  in  the  adaptation  of  such  results  to 
the  needs  and  the  aspirations  of  advancing  time 
as  well  as  in  their  general  correspondence  with 
the  teachings  of  Holy  Writ. 


UNITY   AND   FATHERHOOD   OF   GOD.  227 


The  Unity  and  Fatherhood  of  God. 

True  conceptions  on  these  subjects  must  be  at 
the  basis  of  all  religion. 

There  is  in  human  nature  a  desire  to  pass  be- 
yond material  facts.  It  says — and  though  the 
languages  be  many  the  meaning  is  one — u  There 
is  something  beyond  what  I  see  and  hear  and 
touch,  something  invisible,  mightier  than  winds 
and  wraters,  more  glorious  than  sun,  moon,  and 
stars.  It  must  have  a  life  infinitely  above  my 
own."  And  what  means  this  deeply-seated  con- 
viction but  that  the  natural  is  related  to  the  su- 
pernatural; that  the  latter  is  as  true  and  real  as 
the  former?  Nature  is  not  the  sum  total  of  exist- 
ence. Throughout  historic  time  in  all  discov- 
ered lands  an  idea  such  as  we  have  now  indica- 
ted lies  hidden  in  the  soul  of  man,  or  rather  is 
expressed  in  forms  manifold  and  varied.  The 
most  barbarous  tribes  believe  in  a  power  superior 
to  nature's  forces,  above  the  rain  clouds,  high  up 
in  the  heaven  of  heavens.  The  dreams  of  Eastern 
nations  tell  of  mysterious  abodes  and  beings  be- 
yond the  sight  of  mortals,  and  the  fantastic  imag- 
inings of  Norsemen  do  the  same.  Greek  sages 
and  others  discoursed  of  the  absolute,  the  infinite, 


228  UNITY   OF    FAITH. 

the  unchangeable.  Mystic  pagan  thinkers  were 
of  old;  and  still  they  remain  in  their  ancient 
lands,  bearing  testimony  to  the  supernatural. 
Affecting  it  is  to  see  men  of  all  climates  and  ages 
climbing  up,  as  it  were,  to  look  out  from  the 
world's  loftiest  pinnacles  upon  prospects  which 
baffle  every  effort  of  their  straining  gaze  to  pene- 
trate the  mystery. 

Now  upon  turning  from  heathendom  to  Chris- 
tendom, while  a  belief  in  the  supernatural  is  com- 
mon to  both,  what  a  contrast  is  presented  between 
the  conceptions  of  the  supernatural  as  they  obtain 
in  the  two  cases.  The  doctrine  of  one  God,  a  per- 
sonal Spirit,  the  Father  of  men— how  this  dawns 
in  the  beginning  of  the  Bible,  and  goes  on  shining 
"  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day."  Though 
in  some  points  which  closely  touch  the  central 
light  there  are  in  Christendom  diversities  of  ap- 
prehension, yet  the  remaining  consensus  of  believ- 
ing thought  inspires  thankfulness  and  praise. 

Scripture  makes  all  the  difference  in  this  re- 
spect between  pagans  and  ourselves.  The  unity 
of  God  is  the  characteristic  revelation  of  the  Old 
Testament.  "  Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God 
is  one  Lord."  Deut.  6:4.  The  spirituality  of 
his  nature  was  suggested  by  an  absence  of  visible 
representations  of  him  in  the  Holy  of  holies.  It 
was  sublimely  declared  by  Jesus  to  the  woman  of 


UNITY    AND   FATHERHOOD   OF   GOD.         229 

Samaria  by  Jacob's  well,  " God  is  a  Spirit,"  John 
4:24;  and  the  divine  Fatherhood  comes  out  in 
answer  to  Malachi's  question,  "Have  we  not  all 
one  Father?"  Mai.  2:10,  more  clearly  still  in  the 
teaching  of  our  L,ord's  Prayer. 

God  "the  everlasting  One,"  God  "a  Spirit," 
God  ' '  the  Father. "  So  is  he  recognized  in  the 
creeds  of  Christendom.  ' '  I  believe  in  God  the 
Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth;" 
these  are  opening  words  in  the  simplest  and  most 
venerable  of  Christian  confessions.  "We  believe 
in  one  God,  the  Almighty  Father,  Maker  of  all 
things,  visible  and  invisible;"  so  cry  the  creeds 
of  Jerusalem,  of  Caesarea,  and  of  Antioch  in 
the  fourth  century,  when  an  age  of  most  violent 
controversy  troubled  the  Christian  church.  The 
same  was  the  united  utterance  of  the  fathers  at 
Nicsea  (A.  D.  325).  *  Orthodox  Greeks  still  adopt 
the  same  symbol.  So  does  the  Roman-catholic 
Church.  The  first  article  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land says,  "There  is  but  one  living  and  true  God, 
everlasting,  without  body,  parts,  or  passions,  of 
infinite  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness,  the  Maker 
and  Preserver  of  all  things,  both  visible  and  in- 
visible." 

The  Westminster  Confession,  the  Declarations 

•  Schaff's  "Creeds  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches,"  pp. 
23-33. 


230  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

of  Independents  and  Baptists,  the  standards  of 
Wesleyanism  and  other  Methodist  branches,  are 
of  one  accord  with  these  patristic  utterances;  and 
in  communities  which  put  forth  no  such  formu- 
laries the  faith  is  just  the  same. 

It  is  but  proper  here  to  notice  a  recent  contro- 
versy,* which  is  an  example  of  agreement  in  one 
comprehensive  respect,  while  it  is  an  example  of 
difference  in  another.  Until  of  late  there  were 
no  controversies  touching  the  divine  Fatherhood; 
now  some  difference  obtains,  yet  underneath  there 
is  union.  Two  classes  of  texts  relate  to  this  sub- 
ject— those  which  touch  a  common  divine  rela- 
tionship to  mankind,  and  those  which  touch  a  pe- 
culiar divine  relationship  to  believers.  We  are  all 
his  offspring,  said  St.  Paul,  quoting  from  a  Greek 
poet;  our  Lord's  parable  of  the  prodigal  son  rec- 
ognizes the  continued  Fatherhood  of  the  Almighty 
to  those  who  have  wandered  from  the  Father's 
house  and  played  the  prodigal.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  read  that  to  as  many  as  receive  u  the 
true  Light,"  u  the  Word  made  flesh,"  to  them  is 
given  power  or  authority  to  "become  the  sons  of 
God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name: 
which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of 
the  flesh  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God." 

•  See  "  Cunningham  Lectures  on  the  Fatherhood  of  God,"  by 
Dr.  Candish  ;  and  "  The  Fatherhood  of  God,"  by  Dr.  Crawford. 


UNITY   AND   FATHERHOOD  OF   GOD.         23 1 

John  1:12,  13.  St  Paul,  writing  to  the  Romans, 
says,  "Ye  have  not  received  the  spirit  of  bondage 
again  to  fear;  but  ye  have  received  the  Spirit  of 
adoption,  whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father.  The 
Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit  that 
we  are  the  children  of  God." 

Some,  overlooking  or  not  paying  sufficient  at- 
tention to  the  latter  of  these  passages,  have  given 
undue  prominence  to  the  former,  and  forced  them 
beyond  what  appears  to  be  their  true  meaning; 
others,  absorbed  in  contemplating  the  special  son- 
ship  of  believers,  go  so  far  as  to  deny  the  fatherly 
relation  of  God  to  men  at  large.  Both  extremes 
verge  on  danger;  but,  after  all,  when  verbal  dust 
has  been  swept  away,  there  remains  this  agree- 
ment— first,  that  God  so  loved  the  world  as  to 
give  his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  on  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  ever- 
lasting life  ;  and  secondly,  that  the  privilege  of 
"adoption,"  and  the  consciousness  of  it,  through 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  pertain  to  those,  and 
those  only,  who  are  "born  again" — "born  from 
above." 

Here  then,  as  we  have  said,  we  find  an  in- 
stance, and  there  are  many  such,  in  which  two 
sides  of  revelation  are,  in  theological  description, 
separated  from  each  other.  Both  are  divine,  both 
are    true.      There  is  no  inconsistency  between 


232  UNITY   OF   FAITH. 

them.  But,  looking  on  different  sides  of  the 
divine  relationship  to  His  creatures,  theologians 
fall  into  the  mistake  of  dwelling  upon  them  so  as 
on  one  side  to  deduce  a  formula  of  doctrine  op- 
posed to  a  formula  deduced  on  the  other.  Be- 
tween these  two  sides  of  the  Scripture  shield 
there  is  perfect  harmony. 


II. 

The  Condition  of  Man. 

The  prevalence  of  evil  in  the  world  was  ob- 
vious ages  ago;  yet  there  was  no  adequate  con- 
ception of  the  turpitude  of  sin,  no  just  estimate  of 
human  guilt,  and  no  sufficient  apprehension  of  its 
consequences,  except  among  those  who  possessed 
a  divine  revelation  on  the  subject.  The  Jews,  as 
appears  from  the  book  of  Psalms,  had  convictions 
of  personal  sinfulness  such  as  contemporaries  of 
other  races  could  not  feel.  Wrongs  endured  by 
the  latter  touched  them  to  the  quick;  but  their 
own  misdoings  lay  lightly  on  their  consciences. 
Confessions  of  sin,  sorrows  of  repentance,  and 
struggles  against  evil  were  peculiar  to  a  people 
who  received  light  from  heaven.  They  were 
pointed  back  to  the  innocence  of  paradise  and  to 
the  tragedy  of  the  fall.     The  New  Testament  un- 


THE   CONDITION    OF   MAN.  233 

folded  still  more  affecting  views  of  man's  wicked- 
ness and  misery;  for  He  who  came  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  was  lost  taught  more  impres- 
sively than  had  been  done  before  the  depth  and 
darkness  of  the  estate  from  which  He  worked 
out  full  redemption. 

The  effect  of  our  Lord's  revelation  of  human 
sin  Was  soon  apparent  in  the  church;  and  the 
world  was  startled  by  outcries  of  godly  sorrow 
on  the  part  of  those  who  were  "pricked  to  the 
heart"  by  apostolic  appeals,  Acts  2:37;  but  a 
deep  study  of  divine  teaching  on  this  subject  does 
not  appear  in  early  Christian  literature.  The 
doctrine  of  sin  did  not  excite  so  much  attention 
as  the  doctrine  of  salvation.  The  remedy  was 
received  with  joy  before  the  healed  ones  thor- 
oughly examined  the  fell  disorder  from  which 
they  had  been  restored.  The  Greek  and  Latin 
fathers  differed  to  some  extent  in  conclusions 
which  they  peached  while  attempting  to  systema- 
tize this  part  of  truth.  They  formulated  ideas  as 
to  the  extent  of  mischief  which  the  fall  had  in- 
flicted, as  to  the  operation  of  human  will  in  pro- 
ducing evil  and  in  accepting  its  remedy.  Ques- 
tions arose  relative  to  original  sin,  and  to  the 
initiation  in  human  experience  of  that  redemptive 
process  which  is  revealed  by  the  gospel.  The 
West  went  farther  than  the  Bast  in  an  investiga- 


234  UNITY  OK   FAITH. 

tion  of  the  fall  and  its  effects;  and  Augustine 
laid  the  foundation  of  doctrines  which  have  ever 
since  more  or  less  marked  the  theology  of  Euro- 
pean Christendom. 

As  we  place  later  creeds  side  by  side,  we  are 
struck  with  their  resemblance  to  each  other  in 
representing  the  condition  of  human  beings. 

The  Lutherans  at  Augsburg  in  1530  declared 
in  their  confession  that  man  has  free  will,  and 
yet  has  no  power  to  work  out  the  righteousness 
of  God  without  the  Spirit  of  God.  It  was  chiefly 
because  of  the  spread  of  Lutheranism  that  the 
Council  of  Trent  held  its  sittings.  But  when  we 
turn  to  a  decree  on  original  sin,  passed  in  the  fifth 
session  held  in  1546,  we  find  the  fathers  condemn- 
ing any  one  who  asserts  u  that  the  sin  of  Adam — 
which  in  its  origin  is  one,  and  being  transfused 
into  all  by  propagation,  not  by  imitation,  is  in 
each  one  as  his  own — is  taken  away  either  by 
the  powers  of  human  nature  or  by  any  other 
remedy  than  the  merit  of  the  one  Mediator,  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  reconciled  us  to  God 
in  his  own  blood,  being  made  unto  us  justice, 
sanctification,  and  redemption."*  The  Church 
of  England  decides  in  its  19th  Article  (1563), 
"That  original  sin  standeth  not  in  the  following 
of  Adam,  but  is  the  fault  and  corruption  of  every 

*  Schaff's  "Creeds  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches,"  p.  85. 


THE   CONDITION   OP  MAN.  235 

he  is  very  far  gone  from  original  right- 
eousness, and  is  of  his  own  nature  inclined  to 
evil;"  and  "man  cannot  turn  and  prepare  him- 
self by  his  own  natural  strength  to  good  works, 
faith,  and  calling  upon  God." 

The  Westminster  Confession  (1647)  says, 
"From  original  corruption"  "do  proceed  all 
actual  transgressions."*  Methodist  views  on  the 
subject,  as  taught  by  John  Wesley  in  his  sermons 
and  notes  on  the  New  Testament,  vary  in  some 
respects  from  the  Westminster  Confession,  but 
they  clearly  teach  man's  fall  from  original  right- 
eousness. Congregationalists,  in  their  Declaration 
of  1838,  professed  "They  believe  that  man  was 
created  after  the  divine  image,  sinless,  and  in  his 
kind  perfect;  they  believe  that  the  first  man  dis- 
obeyed the  divine  command,  fell  from  his  state  of 
innocence  and  purity,  and  involved  all  his  pos- 
terity in  the  consequences  of  that  fall.  They 
believe  that,  therefore,  all  mankind  are  born  in 
sin,  and  that  a  fatal  inclination  to  moral  evil, 
utterly  incurable  by  human  means,  is  inherent  in 
every  descendant  of  Adam." f 

Some  passages  bearing  on  the  doctrine  of  sin 
in  different  creeds  are   not  consistent  one  with 

•  SchafFs   "  Creeds  of  the  Evangelical  Protestant  Churches," 
p.  616. 

f  Congregational  Year  Book. 


22,6  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

another.  But  in  substance  the  statements  when 
impartially  interpreted  are  found  to  be  harmoni- 
ous. It  is  to  be  remembered  that  in  communities 
where  creeds  are  not  professed  the  fall  of  man 
and  the  sinfulness  of  all  Adam's  posterity  are 
acknowledged, 

Looking  over  Christian  literature  produced 
in  different  countries,  we  discover  an  immense 
amount  of  philosophical  speculation  pertaining 
to  the  department  of  study  now  under  notice. 
Divines  have  pried  into  every  corner  of  the  do- 
main. They  have  inquired  into  the  meaning  and 
consequences  of  Adam's  fall,  into  the  original 
constitution  of  human  nature,  and  into  the  extent 
to  which  sin  has  affected  it.  The  meaning  of  the 
word  "depravity"  has  been  turned  round  and 
round;  exaggerations  have  been  pushed  to  the 
extreme  by  some,  and  qualifications  have  been 
added  by  the  ingenuity  of  others.  The  -question 
of  liberty  has  been  keenly  discussed,  and  distinc- 
tions made  between  the  freedom  of  the  will  as  a 
distinct  faculty  in  human  nature  and  the  freedom 
of  man  as  a  personal  agent  taken  altogether. 
Yet  it  is  from  this  enormous  amount  of  intellec- 
tual activity  that  we  have  picked  out  items  just 
tabulated,  from  which  it  appears  very  remarkable 
that  such  a  consensus  should  have  existed  through 
so  many  ages  side  by  side  with  various  differences. 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF  CHRIST.  237 

Movements  of  modern  thought  have  no  doubt 
rudely  affected  what  is  called  the  religious  world, 
and  large  numbers  on  the  outskirts  of  Christian- 
ity, who  tenaciously  cling  to  the  Christian  name, 
do  not  accept  such  teachings  as  we  have  indica- 
ted. But  it  is  otherwise  with  those  who  are  pow- 
erfully affected  by  divine  revelation.  Many  who 
are  indisposed  to  bow  to  any  one  of  the  creeds  just 
specified,  and  who  object  to  several  of  the  expres- 
sions they  contain,  have,  nevertheless,  from  read- 
ing the  Psalms  and  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul, 
imbibed  sentiments  on  the  subject  of  sin  which 
are  in  full  accordance  with  those  of  evangelical 
divines  in  all  churches. 


III. 
The  Doctrine  oe  Christ. 

What  is  called  u  the  Apostles'  Creed"  gives 
an  outline  of  the  history  of  Christ  rather  than 
the  full  doctrine  respecting  him.  That  doctrine 
is  the  subject  of  apostolic  exposition  as  we  find  it 
in  the  New  Testament,  and  it  is  throughout 
based  upon  facts  recorded  by  the  evangelists. 
The  doctrine  would  be  impossible  without  the 
facts;  the  facts  would  be  deficient  in  meaning 
without  the  Epistles.     There  is   unity  of  belief 


238  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

among  Christians  all  over  the  world  respecting 
what  we  find  related  of  Christ  in  the  oldest  Con- 
fessions; and  the  unity  of  faith  as  to  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  is  far  more  prevalent  still  than  those 
who  have  not  studied  the  records  of  theological 
opinion  are  apt  to  admit.  In  order  that  we  may 
exhibit  it  as  far  as  it  goes,  it  is  necessary  to  indi- 
cate, beyond  what  we  have  done  in  previous 
sections,  certain  differences  surrounding  a  central 
agreement. 

The  doctrine  of  Christ  includes  his  divine  na- 
ture, his  human  incarnation,  and  his  redemptive 
work. 

1.  His  divine  nature.  The  exordium  of  St. 
John's  Gospel  places  before  us  in  few  words 
the  fact  of  who  He  was  and  also  what  He  was. 
The  apostle  probably  was  acquainted  with  philo- 
sophical speculation  as  to  a  divine  Logos  or 
Word.  He  did  not  build  his  doctrine  on  those 
speculations.  He  received  that  from  his  Master 
and  his  Master's  promised  Spirit.  Yet  he  had 
them  in  view,  we  apprehend,  when  he  took  up 
his  pen  to  write  the  fourth  Gospel,  and  he  in- 
tended to  place  the  revelation  he  had  received 
in  contrast  with  imperfect  and  shadowy  dreams 
of  Alexandrian  theorists.  He  authoritatively  de- 
clares what  he  knew  on  the  subject.  He  puts 
aside  mere  hypotheses  and  declares,  with  a  calm 


the  doctrine  of  chiiist.  239 

confidence,  that  there  is  a  true  Logos,  a  Word 
such  as  philosophers  never  dreamed  of,  a  Word 
divine,  real,  blessed,  speaking  to  men  ever- 
more. 

"In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the 
Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God. 
The  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All 
things  were  made  by  Him,  and  without  Him  was 
not  anything  made  that  hath  been  made.  In 
Him  was  life,  and  the  life  was  the  light  of 
men. ' ' 

The  source  of  the  utterance  warrants  full  con- 
fidence in  its  authority.  Here  comes  out  a  fact 
like  the  sun,  dark  with  excess  of  light.  The  ef- 
fulgence so  dazzles  that  as  we  look  on  the  vis- 
ion we  have  to  shade  our  eyes. 

The  Word  is  divine.  "With  God,"  yea 
"God"  Himself;  though  with  a  distinction, 
He  is  essentially  one  with  the  Fountain  of  all 
being,  all  life.  Well  might  such  pregnant  phra- 
seology set  Christians  thinking,  laying  hold  on 
intellects  and  hearts  year  after  year,  age  after 
age,  so  that  for  centuries  they  could  pay  atten- 
tion to  little  else.  Other  texts  of  Scripture  they 
gathered  together,  and  wove  into  one  whole  round 
this  oracle — the  middlemost  of  all  inspired  les- 
sons given  them  to  study.  "With  God,"  they 
said  to  themselves — here  is  distinction.      "Was 


240  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

God,"  they  proceeded  to  conclude — here  is  equal- 
ity. These  were  the  pivots  round  which  the 
minds  of  Christian  fathers  turned  for  three  hun- 
dred years.  They  had  little  time,  little  inclina- 
tion, to  dwell  on  the  mystery  of  sin;  they  lost 
themselves  in  wonder  and  love  as  they  contem- 
plated this  mystery  of  Christ.  Two  tendencies 
of  belief  appeared  early,  one  rising  supremely  to 
the  union  between  u  Logos"  and  "  Father,"  the 
other  resting  chiefly  on  the  distinction  between 
the  two.  "Was  God" — there  is  identity,  ex- 
claimed one  class.  "With  God" — there  is -dis- 
tinguishableness,  exclaimed  the  other.  The  two 
tendencies  came  into  collision  at  the  Nicene 
crisis.  The  former  tendency  overcame  the  latter. 
Out  of  the  first  came  the  doctrine  of  Athanasius; 
the  Son,  he  said,  is  of  the  same  substance  as  the 
Father.  Out  of  the  second  came  the  doctrine  of 
Arius,  which  denied  this  co-essence  and  reduced 
the  Son  to  the  condition  of  a  creature,  although 
very  exalted  and  glorious. 

Arius  is  believed  by  many  competent  his- 
torical theologians  to  have  been  influenced  by 
philosophical  speculations  derived  from  heathen 
sources,  then  prolific  and  influential,  when  he 
denied  what  is  termed  the  consubstantiality  of 
the  Son — His  divine  uncreated,  co-existent  es- 
sence.    Yet  Arius  employed  most  exalted  terms 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF   CHRIST.  241 

to  denote  His  dignity  and  glory,  and  his  phra- 
seology at  times  approaches  that  of  the  ortho- 
dox. 

What  Athanasius  believed  is  expressed  in  the 
Nicene  Creed.  All  the  orthodox,  Bast  and  West, 
adopted  it.  Athanasianism  may  be  said  after  a 
sharp  struggle  to  have  reigned,  but  Arianism 
prevailed  for  a  while  over  Christendom.  It  had 
its  divisions,  while  the  Athanasians  presented  a 
united  front. 

Some  semi-Arians  were  less  far  removed  from 
orthodoxy  than  others;  they  would  not  adopt 
language  which  signifies  distinctly  one  substance 
with  the  Father;  they  said  they  believed  the  Son 
was  of  like  substance  with  the  Father.  Other 
Arians  lagged  far  behind.*  Metaphysical  minds, 
on  both  sides  of  the  momentous  question,  betook 
themselves  to  intellectual  refinements  which  the 
generality  of  Christians  could  not  fully  under- 
stand; between  them,  and  indeed  among  those 
who  were  nominally  mixed  with  the  semi-Arian 
ranks,  there  is  historical  ground  for  believing 
some  might  be  found  who  accepted  Jesus  Christ 
as  the  divine  and  only  Saviour  of  mankind.  In 
a  very  decided  spirit,  not  sacrificing  what  he  be- 
lieved to  be  true,  the  great  Athanasius,  supported 

•  The  original  history  of  the  controversy  is  supplied  by  Soc- 
rates (A.  D.  324-340),  Sozomen  (324-340 \  and  Theodoret  (322-428). 
16 


242  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

by  Hilary,  bishop  of  Poictiers,  finally  reestab- 
lished the  doctrine  of  our  Lord's  true  and  proper 
divinity.  * 

2.  The  incarnation  of  the  Word  in  Jesus 
Christ  is  explicitly  asserted  by  the  apostle  John: 
"And  the  Word  became  flesh,  and  dwelt  among 
us  (and  we  beheld  His  glory,  glory  as  of  the 
only-begotten  from  the  Father)  full  of  grace  and 
truth."     John  1:14,  R.  V. 

As  the  Nicene  theologians  had  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  inquiry,  What  is  the  relation  of  the 
Word  to  the  Father?  so  theologians  afterwards 
went  on  to  ask,  What  is  the  relation  of  the  hu- 
man to  the  divine  nature  in  the  person  of  Christ? 
How  is  humanity  united  to  divinity?  What  is 
the  effect  of  the  union?  Where  is  the  centre  of 
personality?  Are  there  two  wills  or  one?  Here 
also  divergent  tendencies  appeared,  the  first 
towards  a  confusion  of  the  human  with  the  di- 
vine, the  second  towards  a  distinction  which 
separated  the  human  from  the  divine,  so  as  to 
make  two  personalities.  The  controversy  is 
dreary  and  nearly  unintelligible,  and  it  excited 
less  and  less  interest  as  complications  which  only 

•  Gibbon  acknowledges  that  the  distinctive  term  employed  by 
Athanasius  to  denote  the  divinity  of  Christ  lias  been  "  unanimously 
received  as  a  fundamental  article  of  the  Christian  faith  by  the  con- 
sent of  the  Greek,  the  Latin,  the  Oriental,  and  the  Protestant 
churches."     "  Decline  and  Fall,"  etc.,  Milman's  Edition,  II.  p.  203. 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF   CHRIST.  243 

Eastern  minds  could  understand  hastened  the 
wearisome  discussion  to  its  end.  Traces  of  it, 
however,  remain  in  some  Oriental  sects. 

Greek,  Roman,  and  some  Anglican  divines 
regard  the  orthodox  results  of  these  controversies 
respecting  the  nature  and  person  of  our  Lord  as 
the  ne  plus  ultra  of  theological  attainment  on  the 
subject.  Some  Americans  concur  in  this  opin- 
ion. On  the  contrary,  certain  acute  German 
thinkers  have  criticised  these  formulas  as  insuf- 
ficient and  are  ready  to  re-open  the  investigation; 
whether  they  will  do  anything  better  than  their 
predecessors  remains  to  be  seen.  In  the  mean- 
while a  large  number  of  thoughtful  men  look 
upon  minute  definitions  of  the  union  between 
the  Father  and  the  Word  and  between  divinity 
and  humanity  as  a  presumptuous  plunge  into  an 
unfathomable  mystery. 

Another  kindred  point  of  inquiry  has,  espe- 
cially in  later  times,  attracted  much  attention, 
namely,  that  respecting  the  sense  in  which  we 
are  to  take  the  words  of  the  apostle  Paul  in 
Philippians  2:7.  In  our  authorized  version  we 
read  "made  Himself  of  no  reputation,"  in  the 
Revised  Version  "emptied  Himself,"  the  Greek 
word  being  Uevuoe.  Hence  the  agitation  of  the 
question  is  termed  the  Kenotic  controversy.  It 
is  asked,  How  did  He  who  was  in  the  form  of  God 


244  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

empty  Himself?  and  Continental  divines  have 
set  themselves  to  answer  the  inquiry.  Some  ex- 
plain that  the  pre-existent  Logos,  after  the  In- 
carnation, suppressed  the  manifestation  of  om- 
nipotence, omnipresence,  omniscience;  others  be- 
lieve in  the  pre-existence  of  the  soul  of  Christ, 
and  that  a  change  in  its  condition  is  intended  by 
the  apostle.  There  are  other  theories  on  the 
same  subject;  and  what  we  now  state  is  intended 
to  show  what  an  amount  of  keen  thoughtfulness 
has  gathered  round  the  Christology  of  the  New 
Testament.  How  remarkable  therefore  is  the 
unison  of  belief  respecting  our  Lord's  divinity 
and  humanity,  which,  amid  all  these  differences, 
has  obtained  and  still  obtains  the  consent  of 
Christendom.  The  agreement  which  prevails 
appears  the  more  valuable  when  viewed  in  con- 
nection with  surrounding  diversities.  And  more- 
over it  should  be  recollected  that,  except  among 
the  old  subtle-minded  Greeks,  these  controversies, 
never  had  any  fast  hold  on  Christendom;  as  it  re- 
gards the  Kenotic  discussion,  that  is  confined  to  a 
few  theologians,  chiefly  German  scholars. 

Coincidences  of  belief  since  the  Reformation 
may  be  thus  stated.  The  Augsburg  Confession 
speaks  of  two  natures,  divine  and  human,  being 
inseparably  conjoined  in  unity  of  person — so  con- 
joined as  not  to  be  confounded.     The  Council  of 


THE    DOCTRINE   OF  CHRIST.  245 

Trent  adheres  to  the  early  orthodox  creeds.  The 
Helvetic  Confession  corresponds  with  the  Lu- 
theran. The  Church  of  England,  in  its  second 
Article,  declares  that  the  Godhead  and  manhood 
were  joined  together  in  one  person  so  as  never  to 
be  divided.  The  Westminster  Confession  uses  in 
chapter  8  the  following  expressions: 

"The  Son  of  God,  the  second  Person  in  the 
Trinity,  being  very  and  eternal  God,  of  one  sub- 
stance and  equal  with  the  Father,  did,  when  the 
fulness  of  time  was  come,  take  upon  Him  man's 
nature,  with  all  the  essential  properties  and  com- 
mon infirmities  thereof,  yet  without  sin." 

Symbols  of  other  evangelical  denominations, 
including  the  Baptist,  the  Wesleyan,  and  Inde- 
pendent, less  scholastic  in  phraseology,  neverthe- 
less harmonize  with  the  earlier  ones  in  substance. 

3.  The  redemptive  work  of  Christ  is  presented 
in  early  patristic  literature  more  in  a  religious 
than  a  theological  form.  It  was  not  subjected  to 
scientific  analysis,  but  accepted  in  a  devotional 
temper,  Scripture  language  respecting  the  priest- 
hood and  sacrifice  of  the  Redeemer  bein«:  com- 
monly  employed.  Language,  scarcely  amount- 
ing to  a  theory,  in  reference  to  Christ's  delivery 
of  sinners  from  captivity  to  Satan,  occasionally 
occurs,  which  is  difficult  to  explain;  but  when 
we  study  the  writings  of  Anselm,  Archbishop  cf 


246  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

Canterbury,  in  the  eleventh  century,  we  find 
there  an  elaborate  argument,  showing  that  Christ 
by  his  sacrifice  and  obedience  made  an  adequate 
satisfaction  to  divine  justice  for  the  pardon  of 
sin.  .  This  view  was  widely  accepted  by  medi- 
aeval theologians,  and  appears  distinctly,  after 
the  Reformation,  in  the  writings  of  Protestant  and 
Puritan  authors.  Anglo-Catholics,  Thorndike 
and  Bull  for  example,  teach  that  salvation  is 
through  the  satisfaction  of  Christ,  who  by  his 
propitiatory  sacrifice  paid  the  ransom  of  human 
souls;  that  Christ's  submission  to  death  consum- 
mated His  meritorious  obedience,  and  that  His 
obedience,  satisfying  divine  justice,  alone  is  the 
efficacious  cause  of  eternal  life.  Different  opin- 
ions as  to  the  application  of  the  Atonement  were 
entertained  by  English  theologians,  but  all  the 
orthodox  and  evangelical  were  united  in  a  belief 
of  its  infinite  worth  and  sufficiency.  The  articles 
of  the  Church  of  England,  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession, the  Standards  of  Methodism,  and  the 
Congregational  Declaration  of  Faith  are  all  in 
harmony  with  each  other  in  this  cardinal  doc- 
trine. 

We  may  add  that  the  Council  of  Trent,  while 
it  asserted  particular  doctrines,  which  were  pro- 
tested against  by  a  large  part  of  Christendom  at 
the   Reformation — at   the  same  time  recognized 


PERSONALITY  AND  WORK  OF  THE    SPIRIT.  247 

the  sacrifice  accomplished  on  the  cross,  though  it 
fondly  and  unscripturally  imagined  it  to  be  re- 
peated in  the  offering  of  mass.  Nevertheless  to 
the  Redeemer  himself  the  Trentine  Creed  attrib- 
uted the  salvation  of  man. 


IV. 

Personality  and  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  Spirit  of  God  is  spoken  of  in  connection 
with  the  world's  creation  as  moving  over  the  face 
of  the  waters,  and  as  striving  with  men  in  days 
before  the  flood.  Gen.  1:2;  6:3.  He  spake  to 
David,  and  His  word  was  in  the  tongue  of  the 
Psalmist,  2  Sam.  23:2;  prayer  for  His  gracious 
and  sanctifying  presence  is  offered  in  the  confes- 
sion of  the  sinning  and  suppliant  prince.  The 
prophets  refer  to  this  divine  Being  again  and 
again;  but  it  is  in  the  New  Testament  that  we 
find  the  fullest  revelation  of  his  person  and  work. 
He  is  the  subject  of  our  Lord's  memorable  prom- 
ise, which  since  his  ascension  has  been  the  com- 
fort of  the  church.  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
and  in  the  Epistles  which  follow  we  have  repeated 
allusions  to  the  existence,  power,  and  grace  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.      His  deity  and  personality  are  indi- 


248  UNITY   OF    FAITH. 

cated  so  as  to  convince  all  Christians,  with  few 
exceptions,  of  his  abiding  presence  for  the  illumi- 
nation and  sauctification  of  believers.  Referen- 
ces are  made  to  the  Comforter,  chiefly  in  Scrip- 
ture phrases,  by  early  fathers;  but  no  doctrinal 
exposition  appears  before  the  Nicene  period;  then 
his  name  is  introduced  as  the  third  Person  of  the 
blessed  Trinity. 

Perhaps  one  reason  may  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  in  an  age  when  the  boldest  treatment  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  prevailed  and  it  became  a  sub- 
ject of  general  conversation,  remarkable  reverence 
seems  to  have  been  felt  respecting  language  used 
in  Scripture  touching  the  mystery  of  the  blessed 
Spirit.  Indications  of  this  reverence  and  awe  are 
found  in  patristic  writers  of  that  age.  At  the 
Council  of  Constantinople  (381)  more  precise  defi- 
nitions of  the  doctrine  appeared,  and  the  Spirit  is 
described  as  proceeding  from  the  Father. 

After  a  time  disagreement  arose  as  to  what  is 
termed  the  procession  of  the  Spirit.  The  Constan- 
tinopolitan  decree  had  said  the  Holy  Ghost  pro- 
ceedetli  from  the  Father ;  afterwards  came  an 
addition,  "  and  the  Son."  If  by  "  procession  had 
been  meant  that  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the 
church  is  to  be  ascribed  to  God  and  to  Christ 
(according  to  our  Lord's  words,  'Whom  the  Fa- 
ther will   send  in  my  name,'   John  14:26;   and 


PERSONALITY  AND  WORK  OF  THE  SPIRIT.  249 

again,  '  If  I  go  not  away  the  Comforter  will  not 
come  unto  you;  but  if  I  go  I  will  send  him  unto 
you,'  John  16:7),"  there  would  have  been  no 
room  for  controversy  on  the  subject,  since  the 
whole  Christian  church  were  agreed  on  that 
point.  But  the  procession  in  question  related  to 
the  mode  of  the  divine  existence,  the  secret  es- 
sence of  the  Godhead,  and  an  excitement  arose  on 
the  subject  akin  to  what  occurred  in  respect  to 
the  inner  relation  of  the  Son  to  the  Father.  The. 
controversy  at  length  severed  the  Eastern  and 
Western  churches;  yet  it  is  very  remarkable  that 
all  the  while  both  churches  believed  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  divine,  sent  by  the  Father  in  the 
name  of  the  Son;  indeed,  sent  by  the  Son  him- 
self. 

Unity  of  faith,  after  all,  is  seen  underlying 
this  discussion  with  respect  to  a  fact  the  explana- 
tion cf  which  must  always  remain  an  inscrutable 
secret. 

The  Trinity  continued  to  be  a  subject  of 
thought  to  Western  theologians  down  to  the  Ref- 
ormation, but  it  was  more  in  the  way  of  calm 
meditation  than  of  personal  controversy.  Vain 
endeavors  were  made  in  quiet  hours  to  reach  clear 
ideas  of  the  ineffable  nature;  but  there  were' some 
wise  enough  to  see  how  hopeless  is  the  effort  to 
define  the  incomprehensible. 


250  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

Faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit  as  "  Lord  and  Giver 
of  life"  has  long  been  universally  confessed,  and 
the  repetition  of  the  Creed  embodying  these 
words  conveys  an  impression  of  extensive  unity 
among  Christians  in  general.  Sacramental  theo- 
ries have  sadly  beclouded  the  Scripture  revelation 
of  the  Spirit's  work;  some  of  them  are  mischiev- 
ous in  the  extreme;  but  it  is  a  comfort  to  remem- 
ber that  in  these  cases  his  sanctifying  operations 
are  in  a  manner  still  recognized.  Material  water 
can  never  make  clean  the  human  heart;  only  the 
living  water  springs  up  into  everlasting  life. 
But  the  presence  and  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as 
rising  above  all  visible  ordinances,  have  not  been 
forgotten  by  many  who  have  lived  and  died  in 
churches  marked  by  a  ceremonial  which  others 
deplore.  For  example  we  turn  to  the  sermons  of 
John  Tauler,  a  Dominican  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury: preaching  from  our  Lord's  promise  of  the 
Comforter,  he  explains  how  the  Holy  Ghost  re- 
proves the  world  of  sin  "and  maketh  a  man  to 
judge  himself;"  how  "he  reproves  us  for  our  self- 
righteousness,"  showing  it  is  "as  filthy  rags;" 
and  how  he  reproveth  men  for  their  judgment  of 
others,  and  teaches  the  spirit  in  which  they 
"should  administer  rebuke."  The  preacher  un- 
folds the  sense  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost  will 
"teach  all  things,"  and  warns  against  "stopping 


PERSONALITY  AND  WORK  OF  THE  SPIRIT.  25 1 

at  the  sign  in  the  holy  sacraments  instead  of 
reaching  after  the  eternal  truth  signified."  He 
points  out  those  who  are  hindered  from  receiving 
the  Holy  Ghost  by  looking  only  to  the  humanity 
of  Christ,  and  insists  upon  it  that  "the  light  of 
nature  must  be  swallowed  up  in  the  light  of 
grace. ' '  * 

Since  the  Reformation  attention  has  been  gen- 
erally turned  away  from  inquiries  in  relation  to 
the  mode  of  the  Spirit's  existence,  and  his  work 
on  human  minds  for  their  enlightenment  and 
sanctification  has  chiefly  occupied  the  thoughts  of 
divines  and  given  a  tone  to  their  teaching.  The 
Augsburg  Confession  in  1530,  Art.  18,  declares 
that  man's  will  has  no  power  to  work  the  right- 
eousness of  God  or  a  spiritual  righteousness  with- 
out the  Spirit  of  God,  because  the  natural  man 
rcceiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God;  the 
Homily  of  the  Church  of  England  (1562)  for 
Whitsunday  treats  of  the  coming  down  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  the  manifold  gifts  of  the  same; 
the  copious  Orthodox  Confession  of  the  Eastern 
Church  (i643)f  largely  describes  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit,  founding  the  enumeration  on  Gal.  5:22; 
and    the  Westminster  Confession  (1647),  chapter 

•  "  Life  and  Sermons  of  Tauler,"  translated  by  S.  Winkworth, 
16,  17. 

f  Schaff ' s  "  Creeds  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches,"  p. 
3:6. 


252  UNITY   OF   FAITH. 

10,  ascribes  effectual  calling  to  the  Word  and 
Spirit  of  God,  taking  away  the  heart  of  stone  and 
giving  a  heart  of  flesh,  renewing  the  wills  of  men, 
and  turning  them  to  what  is  good.  John  Wesley 
and  other  great  denominational  leaders  and  repre- 
sentative divines  have  in  their  published  works 
dwelt  largely  upon  the  Spirit's  work,  and  Chris- 
tian hymnology  abounds  in  adoring  invocations 
of  the  divine  Comforter 


V. 

Salvation  by  Faith. 

"Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please 
God."  The  place  of  faith  in  the  forefront  of 
divine  requirements  is  distinctive  of  Scriptural 
religion.  There  is  no  other  religion  in  the  world 
which  presents  the  same  character.  We  are  so 
familiar  with  it  that  we  are  hardly  struck  with 
the  contrast  it  affords  to  systems  existing  through 
long  ages  all  over  heathendom.  They  require 
the  performance  of  rites  and  ceremonies  without 
insisting  upon  the  obedience  of  mind  and  heart. 
Intellect  and  affection  are  left  uncultured,  and 
they  consequently  yield  only  the  thorns  and  this- 
tles of  impure  imaginations  and  destructive  pas- 


SALVATION   BY   KAITH.  253 

sions.  But  the  aim  of  Revelation  is  to  create  in 
us  a  new  inner  life,  a  life  of  intelligent  apprehen- 
sion, of  earnest  conviction,  of  moral  and  spiritual 
principle;  in  short,  a  vigorous  impulsive  power 
which  shall  raise  us  above  the  sensual,  the  visi- 
ble, and  the  transitory.  The  noblest  systems  of 
moral  philosophy  are  those  which  call  attention 
not  so  much  to  particular  actions  as  to  the  mo- 
tives out  of  which  right  actions  arise.  Virtue  is 
not  an  outward  conformity  to  utilitarian  rules, 
but  an  inward  striving  after  what  is  good  accord- 
ing to  a  fixed  purpose  which  rests  upon  settled 
convictions;  and  while  all  heathen  religion  and 
philosophy  insists  upon  human  merit,  and  makes 
that  the  basis  of  truth  and  hope,  the  gospel 
sweeps  the  idea  of  meritoriousness  away  and  pro- 
claims that  by  grace  we  are  saved  through  faith. 
After  all,  the  faith  required  by  the  Bible  is  in 
harmony  with  the  highest  ethical  teachings.  It 
lays  its  foundation,  not  on  the  shifting  sands  of 
expediency  and  fashion,  but  on  the  eternal  rock 
of  faith  in  God.  There  is  a  beautiful  unity  in  the 
Scripture  doctrine  of  faith  from  beginning  to  end. 
Abraham  was  father  of  all  who  believe.  By  faith 
he  and  all  the  heroes  enumerated  in  the  magnifi- 
cent roll  of  spiritual  nobility  preserved  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  "wrought  righteous- 
ness."     uThe  just  shall  live  by  his  faith,"  Hab. 


254  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

2:4,  is  the  pregnant  lesson  of  the  Hebrew  prophet 
Habakkuk;  and  these  few  words  are  transplanted 
into  the  New  Testament  three  distinct  times, 
making  seed-plots,  out  of  which  Martin  Luther 
and  many  others  have  gathered  harvests  for  the 
nourishing  and  enrichment  of  Christ's  universal 
church.  Controversies  about  faith,  or  rather  the 
relation  it  sustains  to  justification  and  holiness, 
have  been  rife  in  past  ages,  and  have  not  died  out 
yet;  but  at  the  heart  of  them  there  lies  a  great 
deal  of  common  Christian  truth,  which  it  is  desi- 
rable, though  sometimes  difficult,  to  disentangle 
from  its  surroundings. 

As  in  other  cases,  so  in  this,  the  views  of  prim- 
itive believers  respecting  salvation  were  religious 
rather  than  theological.  They  regarded  salvation 
as  a  whole,  without  distinguishing  between  its 
two  sides:  the  one,  our  acceptance  with  God;  the 
other,  our  holiness  of  life.  A  sentence  in  Cyp- 
rian gives  the  pith  of  their  creed:  u  Every  one 
who  believes  in  God  and  lives  in  faith  is  found 
just,  and  long  since  in  faithful  Abraham  is  shown 
to  be  blessed  and  justified."* 

All  Christians  were  convinced  that  they  were 
saved  by  grace  through  faith,  though  they  failed 
to  distinguish  between  things  that  differ.  Augus- 
tine did  not  distinguish  between  justification  and 

•  Epistles,  p.  63. 


SALVATION    BY   FAITH. 

holiness,  and  he  mistily  speaks  oj  grace  by 
we  are  justified  as  identical  with  the  infusion  of 
divine  love.*  It  is  easy  to  point  out  differences 
between  patristic  and  later  theologians,  while  all 
accepted  the  doctrine  that  grace  is  the  source  and 
faith  the  instrument  of  salvation. 

There  is  much  wisdom  in  Melanchthon's  re- 
mark on  Augustine,  that  his  opinion  was  "more 
pertinent  and  fit  and  convenient  when  he  disputed 
not  than  when  he'did."f 

Luther  investigated  the  matter  in  a  way  not 
attempted  before,  and  the  outcome  is  given  in  the 
20th  Article  of  the  Augsburg  Confession:  "Our 
works  cannot  reconcile  God  or  deserve  remission 
of  sins,  grace,  and  justification  at  his  hands;  but 
these  we  obtain  by  faith  only  when  we  believe 
that  we  are  received  into  favor  for  Christ's  sake." 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  at  the  Refor- 
mation all  who  remained  in  the  Romish  Church 
opposed  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  At 
the  Council  of  Trent,  we  learn  from  the  Bishop 
of  Belcastro  that  there  were  some  who  contended 
against  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  works, 
affirming  that  our  works  were  maimed  and  weak.  J 

Contarini  published  a  tract§  on  the  doctrine  of 

*  See  Shedd's  "  History  of  Christian  Doctrine,"  II.  p.  255. 
f  Luther's  "  Table  Talk." 

%  "  Romanism,"  by  the  Rev.  R.  C.  Jenkins,  M.  A.,  106.    R.  T.  S. 
2  Paris  edition,  1571. 


256  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

justification,  in  which  he  states  views  similar  to 
those  of  Martin  Luther.  He  was  anxious  to  pro- 
mote  an  understanding  between  Roman-catholics 
and  Lutherans.  There  were  others  of  the  same 
mind.  Even  Cardinal  Pole,  before  he  became 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  leaned  some  way  in 
the  same  direction;  and  so  did  a  Spanish  prelate 
named  Carranza,  who  accompanied  Philip  II.  to 
England  when  he  came  to  marry  Queen  Mary. 
It  is  said  when  he  was  in  London  "he  preached 
like  Melanchthon"  and  used  perilous  language, 
which  we  can  easily  believe  after  reading  his  me- 
moirs, where  we  find  that  he  suffered  severely  for 
opinions  he  expressed.*  It  seems  probable  that 
but  for  the  influence  of  the  Papal  court  and  the 
Jesuit  order  the  canons  and  decrees  of  Trent 
would  have  been  different  on  the  subject  of  justi- 
fication from  what  they  are.  There  was  at  the 
time  a  vast  deal  of  floating  opinion  in  Europe, 
which,  while  it  did  not  consolidate  into  Protest- 
antism, appears  in  harmony  with  the  faith  of  the 
Reformers. 

The  Trentine  Decree  includes  an  elaborate 
treatise  of  sixteen  chapters,  and  the  doctrinal 
decrees  are  followed  by  no  less  than  thirty-three 
canons  or  anathemas.     There  are  numerous  para- 

*  See  "  Spanish  Reformers,"  p.  186,  et  seq.  Religious  Tract  So- 
ciety. 


SALVATION    BY   FAITH.  25/ 

graphs  which  Protestants  cannot  fairly  object  to, 
since  they  set  forth  the  insufficiency  of  the  law  to 
justify  man. 

It  is  distinctly  declared,  "The  meritoriotis 
cause  is  his  most  "beloved,  only-begotten  Son, 
who,  when  we  were  enemies,  for  the  exceeding 
charity  wherewith  he  loved  us,  merited  justifica- 
tion for  us  by  his  most  holy  passion  on  the  wood 
of  the  cross,  and  made  satisfaction  for  us  unto 
God  the  Father." 

Moreover,  it  is  affirmed  that  we  are  said  "  to 
be  justified  by  faith,  because  faith  is  the  begin- 
ning of  human  salvation,  the  foundation  and  root 
of  all  justification,  without  which  it  is  impossible 
to  please  God." 

Happily  there  have  been  in  Holland  and 
France  Jausenists  and  Port  Royalists  who  have 
clung  to  evangelical  orthodoxy  on  the  subject  of 
divine  grace. 

We  should  be  careful  neither  to  minimize 
differences  nor  to  magnify  them  ;  and  while 
plucking  up  tares,  not  to  overlook  the  wheat 
amid  which  they  grow.  Many  spiritual  members 
of  Christ's  church  are  more  Scriptural  than  their 
creeds,  and  with  an  instinct  of  true  piety  they 
feed  upon  that  which  grows  out  of  God's  revela- 
tion, rejecting,  perhaps  unconsciously,  poisonous 
plants  which    the  enemy  has  sown  in  the  field. 

17 


258  UNITY  OF  FAITH. 

All  evangelical  churches  cleave,  as  for  their  life, 
to  the  grand  principle  of  salvation  by  grace 
through  faith.  They  repudiate  perilous  qualifi- 
cations of  this  principle,  and  in  their  doctrinal 
articles,  confessions,  and  declarations,  also  in  the 
works  of  their  representative  divines,  they  exhibit 
on  the  whole  what  is  enforced  by  St.  Paul,  St. 
Peter,  St.  James,  St.  John,  and  St.  Jude  as  the 
divine  way  of  salvation. 


VI. 

The  Future. 


There  is  a  wonderful  fascination  in  future 
possibilities,  and  they  attract  the  active  thoughts 
of  human  minds.  Accordingly  one  branch  of 
theological  inquiry  and  belief,  known  by  the 
name  of  Eschatology,  or  the  last  things,  has 
occupied  a  large  amount  of  attention,  and  it 
forms  an  interesting  chapter  in  the  history  of 
opinion.  The  first  point  which  strikes  us,  as  we 
look  at  this  subject,  is  the  diversity  of  conclusions 
reached ;  the  next  thing,  still  more  striking,  is 
the  extent  of  agreement  as  to  points  underlying 
differences. 

A  wide  field  opens  when  we  turn  over  the 
annals  of  Christendom  in  search  of  what  divines 


THE   FUTURE.  259 

have  written  and  people  have  believed  respecting 
the  second  advent  of  our  L,ord,  the  millennium 
of  his  reign,  and  the  glory  of  the  church  during 
that  promised  period;  the  resurrection  of  the  dead 
at  the  last  day;  the  final  judgment  of  mankind; 
and  the  state  of  reward  and  punishment  to  follow 
the  winding  up  of  this  world's  history. 

For  more  than  two  centuries  the  second  com- 
ing of  Christ  vividly  impressed  the  faithful,  and 
inspired  hopes  of  an  approaching  end  when  ene- 
mies would  be  cast  down  from  thrones  of  power 
and  pride,  and  truth  and  righteousness  triumph 
over  falsehood  and  wrong.  The  idea  of  a  millen- 
nium more  beautiful  than  the  pristine  age  of  gold, 
dreamed  of  by  poets,  filled  the  mind,  in  some 
cases  with  imagery  too  much  akin  to  earthly 
things,  in  others  with  conceptions  more  refined 
and  ideal.  The  resurrection  of  the  dead  was 
confidently  expected  to  take  place  sooner  or  later, 
and  materializing  and  spiritualizing  tendencies 
were  active  in  those  who  wrote  upon  the  victory 
over  death  promised  by  our  Lord  and  his  apos- 
tles. Then  came  the  notion  of  purifying  fires  to 
burn  out  the  stains  of  departed  souls,  and  this  no- 
tion grew  until  a  definite  idea  of  purgatory  arose 
and  ruled  the  faith  of  Western  Christendom.  Its 
prevalency  threw  into  the  background  for  a  long 
period,  if  did  not  extinguish,  the  hopes  of  Christ's 


200  UNITY  OF    FAITH. 

reign  on  earth.  In  after  times  the  end  of  the 
world  seemed  imminent,  and  portents  of  the  last 
day  were  everywhere  recognized.  Recovered 
from  that  panic,  Christendom  still  fixed  its  gaze 
upon  things  not  seen  and  eternal,  and  an  im- 
mense amount  of  speculation  obtained  respecting 
the  state  of  souls  in  the  invisible  realms.  Martyr- 
saints,  distinguished  above  others  by  crowns  of 
gold,  are  seen  sparkling  in  early  Italian  pictures 
of  paradise  restored.  That  paradise  inspired  the 
genius  of  Dante,  and  in  his  poem  also  the  abodes 
of  the  sinful  burn  with  fearful  flames.  But  at  the 
Reformation  we  are  assured,  on  competent  au- 
thority, that  "Protestants  and  Catholics  were  in 
perfect  accordance  as  to  the  doctrine  of  the  last 
things,  with  the  exception  of  the  doctrine  con- 
cerning purgatory.  The  minor  sects  also  adopted 
the  same  views  respecting  the  second  advent  of 
Christ  to  judge  the  world,  and  the  resurrection  of 
the  body.  As  regards  the  states  of  the  blessed 
and  the  damned,  the  opinions  of  different  denom- 
inations were  modified  in  various  ways  by  their 
respective  creeds;  but  these  differences  were  not 
introduced  into  the  symbolical  books.  Fanatical 
notions  concerning  the  restitution  of  all  things 
met  with  the  same  fate  at  the  hands  of  the  Luth- 
erans."*     Several    prominent    writers    revived 

*  Hagenbach's  "  History  of  Doctrines,"  II.  p.  350. 


THE   FUTURE.  26l 

millennarianism.  The  author  just  quoted  goes 
on  to  say  that  during  the  last  and  the  present 
century  rationalists  have  u  sought  to  explain 
away  the  Scriptural  doctrine  of  the  second  advent 
of  Christ  and  to  shorten  the  duration  of  the  pun- 
ishments of  hell."  "Nevertheless,  both  ration- 
alists and  supranaturalists  retained  the  doctrine 
of  man's  personal  existence  after  death;  not  only 
those  who  believed  in  a  revelation,  such  as  Lava- 
ter,  but  also  the  principal  friends  of  enlighten- 
ment, declared  their  faith  in  the  world  to  come."* 
Opinion  now  among  English  Christians  is  varied 
in  reference  to  the  points  just  specified,  but  the 
consensus  of  belief  is  larger  than  superficial  ap- 
pearances may  lead  some  to  imagine.  We  have 
stated  differences  in  order  that  we  may  on  the 
background  of  them  draw  lines  of  unity.  We 
can  summarize  agreements  in  reference  to  this 
subject  under  five  heads. 

1.  The  final  triumph  of  Christ's  spiritual 
church.  The  church  idea  is  perfectly  original, 
revealed  in  Scripture,  and  peculiar  to  the  Sacred 
Volume.  Societies,  of  course,  are  as  common  as 
mankind,  but  the  idea  of  a  society  of  this  descrip- 
tion is  found  and  has  been  entertained  nowhere 
else.  The  idea  of  a  church,  visible  or  invisible, 
is  confined  to  Christians  as  such;  and  in  no  place 

*  Hagenbach's  "  History  of  Doctrines,"  II.  p.  462. 


262  UNITY   OF   FAITH. 

outside  can  anything  like  it  be  discovered  as  to 
the  spiritual  bond,  one  in  fact  of  divine  kinship, 
of  an  inward  family  life — different  from  national 
and  political  ties.  And  as  the  idea  is  perfectly 
original  and  unique,  so,  with  few  exceptions,  it  is 
universally  recognized  and  maintained.  The 
visible  and  invisible  church  are  sometimes  con- 
founded, they  are  also  distinguished  ;  but  in 
every  case  the  conception  remains  of  the  whole 
body  of  real  Christians,  without  distinction  of 
race,  being  united  as  one  blessed  community  in 
Christ.  The  conception  is  universal,  or  nearly 
so.  And  with  it  exists  another — i.  e.,  that  of 
Christ's  church  being  destined  to  endure  for  ever 
and  ever.  The  perpetuity  of  it  is  by  no  sect 
denied.  It  is  thought  of  as  one  grand  procession 
marching  forward  to  ImmanuePs  land,  and  those 
who  share  and  rejoice  in  it  sing  as  they  march: 

"  Part  of  the  host  have  passed  the  flood, 
And  part  are  crossing  now." 

A  final  triumph  over  all  enemies  is  universally 
expected  by  this  great  uarmy  of  the  living  God." 
2.  The  consciousness  of  souls  hereafter  in  a 
state  of  blessedness,  according  to  character  formed 
in  this  present  life,  is  another  beautiful  expecta- 
tion to  which  Christianity  gives  birth,  and  it  is 
diffused  widely  wherever  Christianity  is  known. 
"  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise," 


THE   FUTURE.  263 

and  "Absent  from  the  body,  at  home  with  the 
L,ord,"  are  lights  hung  down  from  heaven  like 
silver  stars,  such  as  sparkle  in  a  Syrian  sky, 
cheering  sufferers  on  their  death-beds  and  survi- 
vors mourning  at  the  mouth  of  the  sepulchre. 
The  influence  of  this  revelation  is  confined  to  no 
one  church,  and  with  a  few  individual  excep- 
tions it  belongs  to  all  who  have  embraced  that 
gospel  which  hath  brought  life  and  immortality 
to  light. 

3.  The  resurrection  of  the  body  at  the  last 
day,  in  fulfilment  of  predictions  made  by  our 
Lord  and  his  apostles,  is  a  further  widespread 
belief.  A  mystery  envelops  that  predicted  won- 
der, and  the  description  given  of  the  glorified 
body  by  the  apostle  Paul,  in  his  first  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians,  may  be  said  to  be  dark  with 
excess  of  light.  Theories  of  the  body  hereafter, 
as  perfectly  identical  with  the  body  now  or  as 
contrasted  with  it,  have  been  and  are  still  held — 
hence  controversy  has  arisen ;  but  all,  with  one 
accord,  say  amen  to  the  prophecy,  "Then  shall 
be  brought  to  pass  the  saying  that  is  writ- 
ten, Death  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  victory. " 
"  Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord"  is 
a  benediction  coming  down  on  mourners  in  the 
nineteenth  century  like  music  from  the  skies; 
and   it   harmonizes   with   the   inscriptions;    u  In 


264  UNITY   OF   FAITH. 

Christo,  in  pace,"  rudely  cut  011  the  tombstones 
of  the  catacombs.  The  words  are  repeated  at  the 
present  day  north  and  south,  from  the  Greenland- 
er's  snow-covered  resting-place  to  an  English 
cemetery  in  Australia,  and  west  and  east,  from 
burial  parks  in  the  United  States  to  the  Chris- 
tian grave  under  an  East-Indian  palm. 

4.  The  judgment  of  all  mankind  at  the  end, 
and  the  subsequent  condition  of  the  righteous  and 
the  wicked,  corresponding  with  sentences  pro- 
nounced when  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his 
glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  forms 
another  article  of  one  comprehensive  creed. 
Viewed  apart  from  particular  millennarian  opin- 
ions, a  judgment  of  the  dead,  small  and  great,  as 
they  stand  before  God,  has  been  and  is  accepted 
as  a  certainty,  and  this  confession  is  consentane- 
ous. "We  must  all  appear  (or  be  made  manifest) 
before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  that  every  one 
may  receive  the  things  done  in  his  body  accord- 
ing to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or 
bad."  2  Cor.  5:10.  The  " great  white  throne  " 
and  the  open  books  (Rev.  20:11,  12)  are  images 
which  affect  the  minds  and  hearts  of  Christians, 
and  wherever  they  are  realized  they  inspire  the 
resolve,  ' '  Wherefore  we  labor,  that,  whether  pres- 
ent or  absent "  (which  must  be  understood  in  the 
light  of  the  preceding  words),    "we  may  be  ac- 


AUTHORITY  OK  THE   SCRIPTURES.  265 

cepted  of  Him,"  or  be  found  "well-pleasing  unto 
Him."     2  Cor.  5:9. 

5.  And  finally,  the  everlasting  blessedness  of 
heaven,  the  manifestation  of  the  divine  character 
brighter  than  ever,  and  the  glory  of  our  I^ord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  the  Mediator  of  the  New- 
Covenant —  these  "last  things"  constitute  the 
crown  and  consummation  of  Christian  hope. 

An  agreement  thus  far,  through  past  ages,  and 
throughout  all  lands  where  the  gospel  obtains,  is 
very  wonderful ;  the  more  so  for  the  mystery  of 
the  subjects  and  the  controversies  which  have 
grown  up  around  them. 


.VII. 
Authority  ok  the  Scriptures. 

At  first  sight  it  appears  that  little  agreement 
can  be  found  on  this  important  point.  Manifold 
differences  come  out  in  controversy  with  those, 
on  the  one  hand,  who  add  to  the  Bible  much  de- 
rived from  other  sources,  and  with  those,  on  the 
other  hand,  who  interpret  and  criticise  the  Scrip- 
tures in  such  a  way  as  materially  to  detract  from 
the  compass  of  their  teaching. 

The  coupling  of  tradition  with  Scripture  ap- 
pears   at    an    early   date    in    the   history  of   the 


266  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

church,  and  cannot  be  wondered  at  in  an  age 
close  to  apostolic  times,  when,  of  course,  many 
things  not  written  on  the  record  would  be  remem- 
bered and  related  by  persons  who  had  conversed 
with  the  original  witnesses.  But,  in  point  of  fact, 
we  learn  from  patristic  writings  that  such  tradi- 
tions were  in  the  earliest  times  employed  in  proof 
of  the  authority  of  the  written  Word,  and  it  was 
held  as  a  principle  that  nothing  in  contradiction 
of  it  could  for  one  moment  be  allowed.  The  con- 
clusive authority  of  the  Gospels,  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  the  Apostolic  Epistles,  and  the  Apoca- 
lypse was  strenuously  upheld  by  the  Christian 
fathers;  and  these  works  were  appealed  to  as  de- 
cisive in  cases  where  contrariety  of  opinion  arose. 
Doubts  were  entertained  as.  to  the  canonicity  of 
some  of  the  books  in  our  New  Testament,  but 
at  length  they  were  received  as  divine  by  com- 
mon consent.  Traditions  grew  and  spread  as 
time  rolled  on;  they  added  a  great  deal  out  of 
harmony  with  Scripture,  indeed  contradictory  to 
it;  but  the  latter  was  still  upheld  as  the  rule  of 
faith,  and  the  former  gained  influence  through 
persevering  attempts  to  show  that  they  were  not 
inconsistent  with  Holy  Writ.  Different  views  of 
inspiration  gradually  arose;  what  are  commonly 
called  rationalistic  modes  of  interpretation  were 
adopted,  and  at  the  present  day  are,  alas!  on  the 


AUTHORITY   OK  THE  SCRIPTURES.  267 

increase;  but  while  this  is  to  be  deplored,  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that,  even  by  some  rationalists, 
a  divine  revelation  of  truth  is  believed  to  be  in 
the  Bible,  and  that  no  other  book  in  the  world 
is  to  be  compared  with  it.  Indeed  the  Book 
occupies  at  the  present  day  in  Europe,  America, 
and  other  parts  of  the  world  a  position  such  as 
it  never  did  before.  Translated  into  250  lan- 
guages and  dialects,  and  circulated  in  millions  of 
copies,  it  is  unparalleled  in  honor  and  in  influence. 
Faith  in  the  Scriptures  was  early  required  as 
a  necessary  condition  of  fellowship.  To  the  Bible 
was  assigned  a  position  of  supreme  authority  at 
the  Council  of  Nicaea.  In  all  controversies,  doc- 
trinal and  ecclesiastical,  this  was  acknowledged 
to  be  the  highest  law.  Translations  of  Scripture 
into  different  languages  were  made  at  an  early 
period,  and  vernacular  versions  were  not  forbid- 
den by  church  authority  until  shortly  before  the 
Reformation.  A  competent  writer  goes  so  far  as 
to  say,  "  If  there  is  any  single  point  in  which  the 
fathers  may  be  said  to  be  unanimous,  it  is  in  the 
assertion  of  the  absolute  sufficiency  of  the  Scrip- 
tures as  revealing  all  necessary  doctrine,  both  of 
faith  and  practice,  and  in  their  repudiation  of 
every  claim  of  authority  for  themselves  in  their 
interpretation  of  the  text  of  Scripture."* 

•  Jenkyn's  "  Romanism,"  p.  71. 


268  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

The  inspiration  and  authority  of  Scripture 
were  not  in  dispute  at  the  Trentine  Council;  the 
point  in  question  was  the  relation  in  which  tradi- 
tion stood  to  it.  The  Vulgate  text  was  absurdly 
adopted  as  authoritative,  though,  as  all  scholars 
admit,  it  differs  from  the  original. 

It  was  the  glory  of  the  Reformation  to  give  to 
the  Bible  its  true  place  as  the  final  and  infallible 
standard  of  belief  by  which  all  religious  opinions 
must  be  tested;  and  Martin  Luther  and  William 
Tyudale  laid  the  German  and  English  speaking 
peoples  under  everlasting  obligation  by  their  ver- 
nacular versions  of  the  divine  oracles. 

There  is  a  general  consensus  of  faith  as  to 
divine  Scripture  in  the  evangelical  creeds  of 
Christendom.  The  Belgic  Confessions  (1531) 
may  be  cited  as  an  example: 

11  We  confess  that  this  Word  of  God  was  not 
sent  nor  delivered  by  the  will  of  man,  but  that 
holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

"  We  believe  that  these  Holy  Scriptures  fully 
contain  the  truth  of  God,  and  that  whatsoever 
man  ought  to  believe  unto  salvation  is  sufficiently 
taught  therein." 

The  sixth  Article  of  the  Church  of  England 
is  equally  explicit: 

"Holy  Scripture  containeth  all  things  neces- 


AUTHORITY   OK   THE   SCRIPTURES.  269 

sary  to  salvation;  so  that  whatsoever  is  not  read 
therein,  nor  may  be  proved  thereby,  is  not  to  be 
required  of  any  man  that  it  should  be  believed  as 
an  article  of  the  faith,  or  be  thought  requisite  or 
necessary  to  salvation." 

All  Protestants  of  every  class  appeal  to  the 
Scriptures  as  the  divine  authority  for  Christian 
faith. 

Notions  have  been  entertained  respecting  di- 
vine influence  on  the  reason  of  man,  so  as  to  push 
down  from  its  supreme  throne  the  written  word 
of  God,  and  in  this  direction  mystics  have  rushed 
into  wild  excesses. 

Many  Christians,  who  have  their  own  ideas  as 
to  spiritual  reason  and  the  inner  light,  neverthe- 
less retain  a  profound  reverence  for  the  written 
Word.  The  Society  of  Friends,  though  some- 
times suspected  by  other  communities,  are  most 
devout  readers  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  appeal  to 
it  in  support  of  their  distinctive  views,  while  they 
are  foremost  among  the  zealous  friends  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 

As  we  close  this  imperfect  review  of  the  past 
history  and  present  state  of  theology,  it  is  well  to 
remark  that  nothing  contained  in  this  tract  is  to 
be  construed  as  meaning  that  differences  outside 
the  circle  of  such  consent  as  we  have  endeavored 
to  point  out  and  establish  are  quite  unimportant. 


2;o  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

By  no  means.  All  truth  is  precious,  "more  pre- 
cious than  gold,"  and  therefore  its  minutest  par- 
ticles should  never  be  cast  aside  as  unworthy  of 
regard.  But  the  errors  of  good  men  are  to  be 
dealt  with  charitably,  and  the  lesson  of  St.  Paul 
in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  his  First  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians  demands  and  deserves  our  vigi- 
lant attention  whenever  we  are  engaged  in  con- 
troversy. At  the  same  time  let  us  remember  that 
a  law  of  proportion  is  to  be  observed  in  our  esti- 
mates of  theological  opinions.  Some  things  are 
essential,  and  other  things,  not  altogether  unim- 
portant, are  unessential.  Rightly  to  measure  the 
difference  between  them  in  certain  cases  is  very 
difficult,  yet  an  attempt  in  that  direction  is  a  mat- 
ter of  Christian  duty. 


VIII. 

WE  have  endeavored  to  establish  the  fact  that 
there  is  a  large  amount  of  unity,  sometimes  appa- 
rent on  the  surface  of  creeds,  sometimes  underly- 
ing diversities  of  apprehension  in  the  minds  of 
studious  individuals;  but  beyond  all  this  it  be- 
comes us  to  take  notice  of  a  deeper  and  more  pre- 
cious unity  still  in  the  experiences  of  spiritual  life 
and  in  the  utterances  of  devout  affections. 

Christian    biography  is   a   fruitful    branch  of 


CHRISTIAN    LITERATURE.  271 

religious  literature;  it  meets  the  taste,  it  evokes 
the  sympathy,  of  untold  myriads.  Augustine's 
"  Confessions,"  the  inner  life  of  Bernard  of  Clair- 
vaux,  Anselm's  ''Meditations,"  Luther's  "Table 
Talk,"  the  "Journals"  of  George  Fox  and  John 
Wesley,  the  "  Cardiphonia  "  and  other  letters  of 
John  Newton — these  and  many  more  works  of  the 
same  description  accord  with  what  the  Bible  tells 
us,  "as  in  water  face  answereth  to  face,  so  the 
heart  of  man  to  man. ' '  Prov.  27:19.  "As  many 
of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ  have 
put  on  Christ.  There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek, 
bond  nor  free,  there  is  neither  male  nor  female, 
for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus."  Gal.  3:27,  28. 
Names  may  be  discovered  belonging  to  dark  eras 
embedded  in  neglected  chronicles,  sparkling  with 
Christian  virtues;  and  it  is  only  fair  to  assume, 
from  the  fact  of  so  many  men  and  women  having 
left  no  record  behind  them — for  it  is  impossible 
that  all  names  should  become  memories — that 
there  must  have  lived  multitudes  of  like  faith, 
love,  and  patience  with  those  whom  the  pen  of 
fame  or  friendship  has  rescued  from  oblivion. 
Through  patristic,  mediaeval,  and  modern  wri- 
tings there  runs  an  undercurrent  of  feeling  never 
found  in  pagan  writings  nor  in  any  pages  of  phi- 
losophy. Many  of  those  confessions  and  lamen- 
tations of  personal  and  surrounding  sin  to  which 


272  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

skeptics  and  partisans  are  wont  to  point  for  their 
own  purposes  do  contradict  and  correct  them 
both;  for  these  very  confessions  and  lamentations 
reveal  such  spiritual  sensitiveness  to  what  is 
wrong,  such  horror  of  impurity  and  selfishness, 
such  a  conviction  of  demerit,  such  sympathy  with 
a  holy  God  in  abhorrence  of  wickedness  in  every 
shape,  as  prove  more  or  less  a  realization  in  the 
writer's  mind  of  the  Christian  ideal  of  perfect 
goodness.  Christian  unity  of  this  kind  is  as  pre- 
cious  as  it  has  been  prevalent. 

It  is  proper  to  recognize  varieties  in  spiritual 
life,  but  it  is  incumbent  to  maintain  the  identity 
of  essence  in  them  all.  Whoever  examines  the 
annals  of  Christianity  through  eighteen  centuries 
will  find  the  same  elements  of  power  at  work: 
faith  in  God's  Fatherhood,  faith  in  Christ's  medi- 
ation, faith  in  the  Spirit's  renewing  and  sanctify- 
ing grace.  Could  we  converse  with  believers  of 
an  early  date  or  of  a  distant  country,  influenced 
by  education  and  habits  of  expression  different 
from  our  own,  there  might  be  much  difficulty  in 
arriving  at  a  mutual  understanding;  but — getting 
below  metaphysical  refinements  and  aesthetic 
tastes,  forms  of  worship  and  modes  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal order  and  discipline — when  each  came  to 
speak  to  the  other  of  God  as  a  personal  and  ever- 
present   Father,  of  Christ  the  Brother  and  Re- 


CHRISTIAN    LITERATURE.  2Jl 

deemer  of  man,  and  of  the  Spirit  as  dwelling  in 
the  souls  of  the  faithful,  differences  would  be  toned 
down  and  varieties  harmonised,  heart  would  an- 
swer to  heart,  and  men  divided  by  time,  race,  and 
circumstances  would  clasp  hands  and  kneel  down 
in  love  and  praise  before  one  cross  and  one  throne. 

Of  all  forms  of  Christian  literature  hymnology 
is  foremost  and  chief  as  an  expression  of  united 
faith.  From  a  hymn  to  Christ  the  Saviour,  com- 
posed by  Clement  of  Alexandria  (A.  D.  200),  down 
to  contemporary  hymns  familiar  to  all  English 
congregations,  there  flows  one  stream  of  melody 
to  the  honor  and  glory  of  Christ,  the  Prophet, 
Priest,  and  King  of  his  redeemed  people;  and 
with  it  there  mingles  the  recognition  of  those 
main  truths  set  forth  in  the  present  tract. 

The  languages  are  many,  the  tone  and  spirit 
are  one;  Greek,  Latin,  German,  French,  English, 
they  vary  in  forms  of  thought  and  terms  of  ex- 
pression, but  the  same  sentiment  runs  through 
them  all.  Bernard,  Luther,  Watts,  Wesley,  and 
a  number  of  American  hymn  writers  are  scarcely 
distinguishable  in  this  last  respect  one  from  an- 
other. Take  as  example  the  two  following,  the 
first  by  Bernard,  the  second  by  Ray  Palmer: 

"Jesus,  the  very  thought  of  thee 
With  sweetness  fills  my  breast; 
But  sweeter  far  thy  face  to  see 
And  in  thv  presence  rest. 
18 


274  UNITY   OF   FAITH. 

"  Nor  voice  can  sing,  nor  heart  can  frame, 
Nor  can  the  memory  find 
A  sweeter  sound  than  thy  blest  name, 
O  Saviour  of  mankind  ! 

"Oh,  hope  of  every  contrite  heart ! 
Oh,  joy  of  all  the  meek ! 
To  those  who  fall  how  kind  thou  art ! 
How  good  to  those  who  seek ! 

"  But  what  to  those  who  find  ?    Ah,  this 
Nor  tongue  nor  pen  can  show ! 
The  love  of  Jesus,  what  it  is 
None  but  his  loved  ones  know ! 

"Jesus,  our  only  joy  be  thou, 
As  thou  our  crown  wilt  be. 
Jesus,  be  thou  our  glory  now 
And  through  eternity !" 

"  My  faith  looks  up  to  thee, 
Thou  Lamb  of  Calvary, 

Saviour  divine  ! 
Now  hear  me  while  I  pray, 
Take  all  my  guilt  away; 
Oh,  let  me  from  this  day 

Be  wholly  thine ! 

"  May  thy  rich  grace  import 
Strength  to  my  fainting  heart, 

My  zeal  inspire ; 
As  thou  hast  died  for  me, 
Oh,  may  my  love  to  thee 
Pure,  warm,  and  changeless  be, 
A  living  fire ! 

"While  life's  dark  maze  I  tread 
And  griefs  around  me  spread, 

Be  thou  my  guide ; 
Bid  darkness  turn  to  day, 
Wipe  sorrow's  tears  away, 
Nor  let  me  ever  stray 

From  thee  aside ! 


CHRISTIAN    LITERATURE.  275 

"When  ends  life's  transient  dream, 
When  death's  cold  sullen  stream 

Shall  o'er  me  roll, 
Blest  Saviour,  then  in  love 
Fear  and  distrust  remove  ; 
Oh,  bear  me  safe  above, 

A  ransomed  soul  I" 

One  of  the  best  living  hymn  writers  of  the 
Church  of  England  replied  to  a  Presbyterian  edi- 
tor who  requested  permission  to  use  one  of  his 
compositions,  "I  gladly  give  you  the  permission 
you  ask.  It  is  to  me  a  great  pleasure  to  feel  that 
thus  communion  among  God's  people  is  deepened 
and  widened  by  the  circulation  of  those"  aspira- 
tions to  him  which  he  has  put  into  many  hearts, 
but  which  he  has  not  given  all  lips  equally  the 
power  to  express.  Are  not  our  hymns  drawing 
us  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity 
nearer  to  each  other  every  day?  It  is  remarkable 
how  Christians  occupying  different  sections  in  the 
great  family  unite  in  choosing  the  same  words  in 
which  to  utter  praise."* 

This  interchange  of  hymns  is  one  of  the  best 
religious  signs  of  the  present  age.  Some  years 
ago  we  were  sojourning  in  a  Swiss  hotel  in  com- 
pany with  ministers  of  different  denominations, 
chiefly  representatives  of  High  Church,  Low 
Church,   and   Broad   Church   divisions;   but  one 

*  "Christ  in  Song:   Hymns  of  Irnmanuel,  selected    from  All 
Ages,"  by  Philip  Schaff,  D.  D. ;  Preface,  p.  8. 


276  UNITY  OK   FAITH. 

Sunday  evening  we  joined  in  singing  hymns 
composed  by  various  authors  within  the  range  of 
our  English  Christendom;  and  cheering  was  it  to 
find  how  cheerfully  we  could  all  join  in  common 
notes  of  adoration  and  love  to  the  one  glorious 
Redeemer.  uThis  is  a  true  evangelical  alli- 
ance," exclaimed  one  of  the  party.  We  thought 
of  it  as  a  preparation  for  singing  the  new  song 
with  the  elders  before  the  throne. 

There  is  a  vast  difference  between  unity  of 
faith  in  Christendom  and  unity  of  faith  in  other 
religious  divisions  of  mankind.  No  other  system 
has  ever  reached  the  position  occupied  by  Chris- 
tianity. The  circumstances  under  which  it  ob- 
tained such  a  width  and  variety  of  assent  and 
rooted  its  main  doctrines  in  the  hearts  and  lives 
of  men  render  its  history  something  perfectly 
unique.  Religious  systems  in  distant  lands  have 
no  doubt  to  a  wider  numerical  extent  won  sup- 
port from  the  inhabitants  of  those  lands.  But  the 
remarkable  circumstance  is  that  such  religions 
have  been  local  in  their  character  and  in  their 
constitution  as  well  as  in  their  range  and  influ- 
ence. They  have  sprung  from  a  particular  soil, 
they  pertain  to  particular  races,  and  they  are 
thoroughly  identified  with  particular  national  cus- 
toms and  habits.  Idiosyncrasies  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  have  laid  hold  upon  observances  suited 


CHRISTIAN    LITERATURE.  2/7 

to  their  tastes,  and  these  observances  have  been 
cultivated  with  an  ardor  inherent  in  the  nature 
of  the  votaries  adopting  them.  This  is  true  of 
Brahminism  and  Buddhism.  They  are  local,  geo- 
graphical. They  belong  to  the  East  and  to  the 
Bast  alone.  There  they  abide  and  flourish,  but 
beyond  certain  longitudes  they  do  not  move. 
They  have  no  place  in  the  West,  have  never  been 
acclimated  in  European  countries.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  Mohammedanism,  with  certain 
modifications.  It  is  of  Arab  origin;  and  when 
the  Moors  conquered  Spain  they  built  mosques  in 
Cordova  and  other  cities,  and  they  read  the  Ko- 
ran there  in  schools  and  colleges;  but  their  reli- 
gion was  of  one  race;  hence  on  their  expulsion  it 
could  no  longer  live  in  the  region  to  which  it  had 
been  transplanted.  The  Moslem  faith  expired  in 
Spain  when  left  by  the  Moslem  race.  In  striking 
contrast  with  that  history  are  the  facts  which  have 
been  adduced  on  these  pages.  Christianity  in  its 
substantial  beliefs  at  the  present  period  girdles 
the  globe  as  it  never  did  before.  It  is  adapted  to 
the  Oriental  mind,  and  equally  so  to  the  Anglo- 
Saxon.  The  elementary  creed  which  we  have 
attempted  to  indicate  is  adopted  by  people  in 
every  part  of  the  earth;  and,  we  may  add,  if  some 
phases  of  Buddhist  philosophy  are  finding  favor 
with  a  few  intellectual  circles  in  Europe,  they 


2/8  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

scarcely  touch  the  average  minds  of  our  country- 
men, and  certainly  do  not  penetrate  the  humbler 
classes  of  society;  whereas  the  doctrines  of  God, 
Christ,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  of  salvation  by 
grace  through  faith,  and  of  holiness  as  essential 
to  religion,  are  appreciated  and  prized  by  the 
humblest  Christian  minds;  thus  a  wide  intellect- 
ual as  well  as  spiritual  education  is  carried  on 
wherever  the  church  of  Christ  has  found  a  home. 


IX. 


WK  reserve  for  the  conclusion  of  this  tract 
that  upon  which  the  whole  of  cur  review  is  in- 
tended to  bear,  namely,  the  proof  it  affords  of  the 
divine  origin  and  preservation  of  Christianity. 
No  religion  resembles  it  in  this  respect,  that  it 
extends  into  every  portion  of  the  globe,  and  pre- 
vails most  in  those  countries  which  take  the  lead 
in  modern  enlightenment  and  freedom  of  thought, 
differing  in  this  respect  altogether  from  Hindoo- 
ism,  Buddhism,  and  Islamism;  and  yet,  with  di- 
versities of  race  and  locality,  Christians  unite  in 
holding  fast  the  fundamental  principles  we  have 
imperfectly  described.  This  in  itself  is  a  surpri- 
sing fact.  And  when  we  come  closely  to  exam- 
ine these  principles  we  find  they  are  as  peculiar 


CHRISTIANITY    DIVINE.  279 

as  they  are  important.  They  are  not  shared  by 
any  people  outside  Christendom,  that  is,  outside 
the  sphere  of  gospel  influence.  The  spirituality 
and  Fatherhood  of  God,  the  true  moral  condi- 
tion of  mankind,  the  gracious  possibilities  held 
out  to  them  through  the  redemption  wrought 
by  Christ  Jesus,  his  ineffably  glorious  nature  and 
character,  the  personality  and  purifying  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  salvation,  not  by  human  means, 
but  by  divine  faith,  and  promises  of  a  blessed 
future  in  this  world  and  the  next — these  charac- 
teristics are  its  own  exclusively,  presenting  alto- 
gether an  aspect  entirely  unique.  Its  literature — \ 
devout  and  experimental  as  well  as  doctrinal  and 
historical — also  finds  no  parallel  in  any  other  con- 
nection, and  the  whole  appeals  to  the  mind, 
heart,  and  conscience  on  intellectual  and  spiritual 
grounds,  apart  from  anything  like  coercion.  At 
the  same  time  this  literature  relates  to  facts 
which,  though  fully  substantiated,  are  confess- 
edly mysterious,  and  to  ideas  which,  though 
manifestly  practical  in  their  influence,  are  refined 
and  sublime,  and  in  some  respects  incomprehen- 
sible in  their  nature.  Hence,  looking  at  the  dis- 
tinctions of  race  and  the  idiosyncrasy  of  individ- 
uals, we  see  that  diversities  of  apprehensions  and 
inferences  respecting  the  gospel  of  Christ  were 
sure  to  arise.      The  wonder  is  that  deeper  and 


28o  UNITY  OF   FAITH. 

wider  differences,  going  down  to  the  very  foun- 
dation, splitting  and  overthrowing  every  part  of 
it,  did  not  arise  at  an  early  period.  Assuredly 
that  would  have  been  the  case  had  not  a  divine 
hand  laid  the  cornerstones  and  a  divine  Spirit 
preserved  the  edifice.  Finally,  it  should  not  be 
forgotten  that  there  is  an  aversion  in  human 
hearts  to  the  humbling  doctrines  of  Christianity 
which  many  who  have  embraced  them,  to  their 
after  joy,  found  it  at  first  hard  to  overcome.  This 
the  New  Testament  anticipated,  and  what  has 
actually  taken  place  fulfils  the  prescient  antici- 
pation. Therefore  what  we  have  said  serves  to 
supply  a  branch  of  Christian  evidence  often  over- 
looked, but  which  when  examined  is  found  to  be 
most  satisfactory  to  unprejudiced  minds. 


THE 


EVIDENTIAL  VALUE 


OF  THE) 


OBSERVANCE  OP  THE  LORD'S  BAY. 

BY 
■     REV.  G.  F.  MACLEAR,  D.  D. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  TRACT. 


The  force  of  the  evidence  in  favor  of  a  belief  de- 
rived from  public  services  contemporaneous  with  its 
origin,  and  uninterruptedly  perpetuated  throughout  the 
body  which  holds  it,  is  pointed  out.  The  earliest  evi- 
dence for  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  day  is  adduced. 
The  testimony  of  St.  John  and  St.  Paul  on  the  subject, 
in  the  light  of  their  nationality  and  training,  and  the 
significance  of  the  term  "  the  Lord's  day,"  are  exam- 
ined. It  is  pointed  out  that  the  observance  of  the  day, 
though  not  enacted  by  a  law  in  the  Apostolic  church, 
yet  grew  up  and  made  its  way  by  the  intrinsic  weight 
of  some  overwhelming  reason  for  it.  The  question. 
What  was  this  reason?  is  answered,  and  the  conclu- 
sion is  arrived  at  that  the  historical  fact  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  Lord  alone  affords  an  adequate  expla- 
nation of  its  origin  and  observance. 


THE  EVIDENTIAL  VALUE 

OF  the; 

OBSERVANCE  OF  THE  LORD'S  DAY. 


SECTION    I. 


i.  IT  has  truly  been  observed  that  "no  evi- 
dence of  the  power  and  reality  of  a  belief  can  be 
less  open  to  suspicion  than  that  which  is  derived 
from  public  services  which,  as  far  as  all  evi- 
dence reaches,  were  contemporaneous  with  its 
origin  and  uninterruptedly  perpetuated  through- 
out the  body  which  holds  it."*  Among  these 
public  services  none  is  more  striking  than  the 
observance  among  all  Christian  nations  of  "the 
Lord's  day." 

2.  However  the  observance  of  this  particular 
day  may  have  originated,  here  it  is.  It  has 
lasted  through  more  than  eighteen  hundred 
years.  It  has  survived  many  storms  and  revo- 
lutions. During  these  centuries  the  most  di- 
*  Westcott's  "  Gospel  of  the  Resurrection,"  pp.  131,  132. 
Ed.  3. 


284  THK  Evidential  value;  OF 

verse  political  systems  have  been  established 
and  overthrown.  Empires,  dynasties,  kingdoms, 
have  passed  away.  New  worlds  have  been  dis- 
covered. The  very  languages  which  were  spo- 
ken during  the  early  period  of  these  centuries 
have  given  place  to  others.  Habits,  manners, 
modes  of  thought,  theories,  opinions,  philoso- 
phies, have  changed.  But  the  observance  of 
this  day,  u  the  first  day  of  the  week,"  as  a  day 
set  apart  for  religious  worship,  still  survives. 
Except  for  a  brief  period  of  madness  during 
the  reign  of  terror  in  France,  the  observance 
has  known  no  discontinuance,  and  has  won  for 
itself  the  reverent  acquiescence  of  some  of  the 
greatest  intellects  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

3.  During  these  eighteen  hundred  years  there 
have  been  various  enactments  put  forth  respect- 
ing the  observance  of  this  day.  Passing  over 
those  of  modern  and  mediaeval  times,  let  us  take 
one  which  is  found  among  the  decrees  of  the 
first  CEcumenical  Council  of  Nicaea,  A.  D.  325. 
We  find  it  laid  down  by  the  fathers  there  and 
then  assembled  that, 

"  Forasmuch  as  some  on  the  Lord's  day  bow 
the  knee  in  prayer,  as  also  on  the  other  days  of 
Pentecost,  for  the  sake  of  uniformity  they  now 
shall  stand  to  offer  their  prayers  to  God."* 

*  Council  Nic.     Can.  20. 


THE   OBSERVANCE  OE  THE   LORD'S  DAY.     285 

4.  What  is  noticeable  here  is  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Council,  assembled  as  they  were  from 
the  most  diverse  parts  of  the  Roman  world,  yet 
make  no  doubt  as  to  the  obligation  of  this  day. 
They  do  not  ordain  it.  They  do  not  defend  it. 
They  assume  it  as  an  existing  fact,  and  refer  to 
it  quite  incidentally  for  the  purpose  of  regulating 
an  indifferent  matter — the  posture  of  Christian 
worshippers  on  this  day. 

5.  Four  years  previous  to  this  Council  we 
find  the  Hmperor  Constantine,  A.  D.  321,  laying 
it  down  in  an  edict,  which  was  to  apply  to  Chris- 
tians as  well  as  pagans,  that  there  should  be  on 
the  first  day  of  the  week  a  cessation  from  busi- 
ness on  the  part  of  functionaries  of  the  law  and 
of  private  citizens.  The  emperor  does  not  in- 
deed call  it  the  first  day  of  the  week.  He  terms 
it  the  "venerable  day  of  the  Sun."  But  he 
does  not  anticipate  that  his  Christian  subjects 
will  misunderstand  him  or  object  to  the  observ- 
ance here  prescribed.  Nor  do  we  anywhere  read 
of  their  doing  so.  They  acquiesce  in  the  pro- 
hibition of  business  on  this  day,  and  therefore  we 
may  presume  they  deemed  they  had  reason  for 
doing  so.  The  expression  "day  of  the  Sun," 
our  Sunday,  was  quite  familiar  to  the  Christians 
in  the  times  of  the  emperor,  and  in  this  edict  he 
calls  the  day  by  a  name  which,  as  it  was  in  or- 


2g6  the  evidential  value  oe 

dinary  use,  could  not  possibly  offend  his  heathen 
subjects.*  What  is  worthy  of  remark  here  is 
that,  like  the  authors  of  the  Nicene  Canon,  Con- 
stantine  offers  no  word  in  defence  of  the  obliga- 
tion to- observe  the  day.  With  them  he  equally 
assumes  that  this  will  be  at  once  recognized. 

6.  Pursuing  our  course  still  further  back,  we 
find,  in  the  year  A.  D.  300,  Peter,  Bishop  of  Alex- 
andria,'saying,  "We  keep  the  Lord's  day  as  a 
day  of  joy,"f  and  in  a  Synodical  letter,  issued  in 
A.  D.  253,  we  have  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage, 
mentioning  as  a  notorious  fact  the  celebration  of 
"the  Lord's  day,"  which  is  at  once  "the  eighth 
and  the  first. "J  Tertullian,  speaking  about  fifty 
years  before  (A.  D.  200)  of  the  solemnity  of  the 
Lord's  day,  calls  it  sometimes  "Sunday,"  some- 
times "the  first  day  of  the  week."§  About  the 
year  A.  D.  170,  Melito,  Bishop  of  Sardis,  puts 
forth  a  treatise  respecting  the  day,  and  Dionysius, 
Bishop  of  Sardis,  writing  to  the  Church  of  Rome, 
mentions  its  observance  quite  casually  and  with- 

*  "  Omnes  judices  urbanseque  plebes  et  cunctarum  artium 
officia  venerabili  die  Solis  quiescant."  "  Let  all  judges  and 
peoples  of  towns,  and  the  duties  of  all  professions  cease  on 
the  venerable  day  of  the  Sun."  See  Richard  Baxter's  re- 
marks on  this  decree  in  his  treatise  on  "  The  Divine  Ap- 
pointment of  the  Lord's  Day,"  p.  41. 

f  Ttjv  KvpiaKTjV  %ap[ionvvr)Q  ijfiepav  uyo^ev. 

X  See  Dr.  Hessey's  "Bampton  Lectures,"  Lect.  1,  2. 

\  Tertull.    "  Apol."  c.  6 ;  "  De  Cor."  c.  3. 


THE   OBSERVANCE   OF  THE    LORD'S  DAY.    287 

out  any  word  of  explanation.  If  we  go  back 
thirty  years  we  come  to  Justin  Martyr,  who 
flourished  in  A.  D.  140.  He  mentions  the  first 
day  of  the  week  as  the  chief  and  first  of  days,  and 
states  that  on  it  is  held  an  assembly  of  all  who 
live  in  the  cities  and  in  the  rural  districts,  on 
which  the  writings  of  the  prophets  and  the  me- 
moirs of  the  apostles  are  read.*  Still  earlier, 
about  A.  D.  112,  Pliny  the  Younger,  writing  as 
governor  of  Pontus  and  Bithynia  to  the  Emperor 
Trajan,  describes  the  Christians  as  accustomed  to 
meet  together  on  u  a  stated  day  ' '  (stato  die)  before 
it  was  light,  for  the  purpose  of  worship. f 

7.  The  catena  is  thus  fairly  complete  during 
the  second  century.  From  the  letter  of  this 
heathen  proconsul  it  is  but  a  step,  whether  we 
take  the  earlier  or  the  later  date  of  its  composi- 
tion, to  the  Apocalypse  of  St.  John.  Writing 
from  his  place  of  exile  to  the  Seven  Churches  of 
Asia  Minor,  he  says  without  a  syllable  of  com- 
ment or  explanation,  as  though  his  meaning 
would  be  at  once  understood,  "I  was  in  the 
Spirit  on  the  Lord's  day. "J  •  But  still  earlier, 
111  a  letter  written  by  St.  Paul  from  Ephesus, 
A.  D.  57,  to  the  Church  of  Corinth,  the  apostle 

*  Justin  Martyr,  "  Apol."  1 ;  "  Dial."  c.     "  Tryph." 

f  Pliny's  Letters,  96. 

I  F.yevoujjv  tv  nvev/ian  Iv  rrj  Kvpuuty  fyizpa.    Apoc.  1:10. 


288  THE   EVIDENTIAL  VALUE   OE 

says,  "Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let  every 
one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store  as  God  hath  pros- 
pered him,  that  there  be  no  gatherings  when  I 
come."  i  Cor.  .16:2.  The  authenticity  of  this 
letter  is  not  denied  by  the  most  remorseless 
modern  criticism;  and  as  he  assumes  that  the 
Corinthians  observe  this  day,  so  we  find  the 
apostle  observing  it  himself.  Thus  we  read  of 
his  spending  a  week  at  Troas,  and  when  "on 
the  first  day  of  the  week"  the  disciples  were 
"gathered  together  to  break  bread,"  he  "dis- 
coursed with  them."     Acts  20:7,  R.  V. 

8.  Now  what  is  very  singular  is  that  we  never 
find  the  dedication  of  this  day  to  religious  wor- 
ship made  a  matter  of  question  or  argument.  It 
is  never  elaborately  defended  against  objectors. 
It  is  accepted  without  dispute  by  St.  Paul,  St. 
Luke,  and  St.  John,  by  writers  of  the  sub-apos- 
tolic age,  by  Constantine  in  his  imperial  decrees, 
by  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  of  Nicaea  in  their 
Canons.  I  say  the  assumption  of  a  valid  reason 
for  the  observance  of  this  day,  without  any  ex- 
planation or  labored  apology,  is  very  remarkable. 
It  is  obvious  that  for  some  cause  or  other  it  was 
deemed  that  the  observance  of  the  day  could 
command  an  instinctive  assent.  The  inquiry, 
therefore,  naturally  suggests  itself,  What  were 
the  grounds  that  justified  it? 


THE   OBSERVANCE  OF  THE   LORD'S  DAY.    289 


SECTION    II. 

i.  That  its  observance  needs  justification 
will  be  apparent  on  very  little  reflection.  For 
St.  Paul,  who  thus  speaks  of  the  "first  day  of 
the  week,"  and  St.  John,  who  represents  him- 
self as  having  been  in  the  Spirit  on  "the  Lord's 
day,"  had  been  brought  up  in  the  strictest  prin- 
ciples of  Judaism. 

2.  Let  us  deal  first  with  St.  Paul.  Finding 
it  necessary  on  one  occasion  to  defend  himself 
against  certain  false  teachers  who  prided  them- 
selves on  their  purely  Jewish  extraction,  he  em- 
phasizes with  particular  minuteness  the  purity 
of  his  own  descent.  "Are  they  Hebrews?"  he 
asks,  and  replies,  "So  am  I.  Are  they  Israelites? 
so  am  I.  Are  they  the  seed  of  Abraham  ?  so  am 
I."  2  Cor.  11:22,  23.  On  another  occasion, 
writing  to  the  Galatians,  he  describes  himself  as 
being  "advanced  in  the  Jews'  religion  beyond 
many  of  his  own  age  among  his  countrymen, 
being  more  exceedingly  zealous  for  the  traditions 
of  the  fathers."  Gal.  1:14,  R.  V.  Once  more, 
addressing  the  men  of  his  nation  at  Jerusalem, 
he  says,  "  I  am  a  Jew,  born  in  Tarsus  of  Cilicia, 
but  brought  up  in  this  city  at  the  feet  of  Gama- 
liel, instructed  according  to  the  strict  manner  of 
19 


2Q0  THE    EVIDENTIAL  VALUE   OE 

the  law  of  our  fathers. ' '  Acts  22 : 3,  R.  V.  On  yet 
another  occasion  he  says,  "I  am  a  Pharisee,  a 
son  of  Pharisees."  Acts  23:6,  R.  V.  Thus  St. 
Paul  was  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews. 

3.  Next  let  us  take  St.  John.  Though  he 
never  was,  like  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
at  one  of  the  Rabbinical  schools,  yet  he  was  a 
Jew  of  Northern  Palestine,  and  while  unac- 
quainted with  the  glosses  of  tradition,  he  kept 
the  old  simple  faith  in  the  letter  of  the  law. 
Once  and  again  his  zeal  broke  out  against  those 
who  did  not  think  as  he  did,  Mark  9:38;  Luke 
9:49,  and  against  those  who,  like  the  Samaritan 
villagers,  refused  to  treat  his  Master  with  hospi- 
tality. Luke  9:54.  In  the  Acts  we  find  him 
keeping  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  Acts  2:1,  fre- 
quenting the  temple,  observing  the  Jewish  hours 
of  prayer,  and  conforming  to  Jewish  usages. 
Acts  2:46;  3:1. 

4.  The  writers,  then,  who  first  employ  these 
remarkable  expressions  were  of  Jewish  nation- 
ality, and  had  been  brought  up  under  all  the 
influences  that  moulded  the  life  of  the  elect 
nation.  Now,  undoubtedly  it  is  true  that  the 
forefathers  of  the  nation  had  been  unable  to  resist 
the  spell  of  the  various  idolatries  practised  by  the 
peoples  lying  around  the  Holy  Land,  and  neg- 
lected the  observance  of  the  time-honored  Sab- 


THE   OBSERVANCE   OF  THE   LORD'S   DAY.    2QI 

bath.  But  the  Jerusalem  of  the  age  of  the 
Prophets  was  not  the  Jerusalem  of  St.  John  and 
St.  Paul.  It  was  necessary  for  the  prophet  Isa- 
iah to  utter  solemn  warnings  against  the  profana- 
tion of  the  day,  Isa.  58:13,  14,  and  for  Jeremiah 
and  Ezekiel  to  denounce  the  violation  of  it  as 
one  of  the  greatest  of  the  national  sins.  Jer. 
17:21-27;  Ezek.  20:12-24.  But  during  the 
dreary  years  when  the  people  went  into  cap- 
tivity, and  "hanged  their  harps  by  the  waters 
of  Babylon,"  all  this  was  changed.  The  same 
impulse  seized  them  under  which  the  Christian 
world  of  the  sixteenth  century  sprang  back, 
over  the  whole  of  the  Middle  Ages,  either  to 
the  primitive  or  to  the  apostolic  times.  The 
return  from  the  captivity  marks  the  rise  of  the 
Puritan  period  of  the  Jewish  Church.* 

5.  After  the  times  of  Nehemiah  and  Ezra, 
Neh.  10:31;  13:15-22,  there  is  no  evidence  of 
the  Sabbath  being  neglected  by  the  Jews,  except 
by  such  as  fell  into  open  apostasy.  1  Mace. 
1:  n-15,  39-45.  From  the  Gospels  we  learn 
that  the  Jews  in  our  Lord's  time  laid  the  most 
marked  stress  upon  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath; and  the  minute  rules  imposed  respecting 
it,  and  the  slightness  of  the  acts  whereby  its 
sacredness  could  be  impaired,  receive  constantly 
*  Stanley's  "Jewish  Church,"  III.  p.  31. 


2g2  THE    EVIDENTIAL  VALUE   OF 

recurring  illustration.  The  nation  might  be  op- 
pressed and  apparently  crushed  by  the  stern 
power  of  Idumsean  or  Roman  rulers,  but  the 
slightest  effort  to  enforce  customs  not  authorized 
by  the  Mosaic  law  was  the  signal  for  an  outbreak 
of  zeal  and  fanaticism  which  bore  down  every- 
thing before  it  and  from  which  even  the  boldest 
statesmen  recoiled.  The  Maccabsean  generals  at 
first  declined  to  fight  against  Antiochus  or  to  de- 
fend themselves  on  the  Sabbath,  "  Because,"  says 
Josephus,  u  they  were  not  willing  to  break  in 
upon  the  honor  they  owed  the  Sabbath  even  in 
such  distresses,  for  our  law  requires  that  we  rest 
on  that  day."* 

Later  leaders,  Mattathias  and  Jonathan,  al- 
lowed their  countrymen  to  repel  but  not  to 
attack  an  enemy  on  that  day.  The  Jewish  his- 
torian, however,  bears  the  most  complete  testi- 
mony to  the  strictness  with  which  the  day  was 
observed, f  and  the  sneers  of  Horace,  Juvenal,  and 
PersiusJ  bear  out  the  statement  that  wherever 
the  Jew  went  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  be- 
came the  most  visible  pledge  of  his  nationality. 

*Jos.  "Ant."  12:6,  2. 

f  Jos.  "Ant."  14:4,  2;  18:9,2. 

t  "  Hodie  tricesima  Sabbata.    Vin  tu 

Curtis  Judaeis  oppederc ?"— Hor.  "Sat."  I.  IX.,  69. 
"  To-day  is  our  thirtieth  Sabbath.     Do  you  desire  to  offend 
the  circumcised  Jews  ?" 


THE   OBSERVANCE   OF  THE   LORD'S   DAY.  293 

6.  So  great,  indeed,  was  the  reaction  after 
the  return  from  the  captivity,  so  intense  the 
readiness  to  resent  the  slightest  departure  from 
the  enactments  of  the  law,  that  the  Idumsean 
Herod  could  not  set  up  in  the  theatre  the  repre- 
sentations of  the  victories  of  Csesar,  or  place  the 
Roman  eagle  on  one  of  the  portals  of  the  temple, 
without  producing  a  violent  outbreak  of  popular 
excitement.  *  On.  another  occasion,  the  Roman 
governor  Pilate,  under  cover  of  night,  ventured  to 
introduce  the  military  standards  into  Jerusalem. 
In  the  morning  the  populace  awoke  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  this  insult  to  their  strongest  preju- 
dices. Abstaining  from  all  violence,  they  sent  a 
deputation  to  the  governor  at  Csesarea,  entreating 
him  to  remove  the  standards.  For  days  the  am- 
bassadors crowded  his  pretorium;  and  when  Pilate 
brought  out  his  troops  to  overawe  and  disperse 

"  Quidam  sortiti  metuentem  Sabbata  patrem 
Nil  praeter  nubes  et  cceli  numen  adorant." — Juvenal,  "  Sat." 
XIV.  96. 
"  Some,  whose  lot  it  is  to  have  a  father  paying  respect  to 
Sabbaths, 
Worship  nothing  except  the  clouds  and  the  divinity  of  the 
sky," 
and   Ovid,   A.  A.   I.    76,    "  Cultaque   Judceo  sepiima  sacra 
Syro  " — "  And  the  festival  of  the  seventh  day  observed  by 
the  Syrian  Jew;"  Persius,  "Sat."  V.  184,  "  Labra  moves  tacitus 
recutitaque  Sabbata  palles  " — "  You  move  your  lips  in  silence 
and  turn  pale  at  the  circumcised  Sabbath.'" 
*  Jos.  "Ant."  15:8,  2;  17:6,  2. 


294  THE    EVIDENTIAL  VALUE   OF 

tliem,  they  flung  themselves  with  one  accord 
upon  the  ground  and  there  remained  immovable 
for  five  days  and  as  many  nights,  declaring  with 
vehemence  that  they  were  ready  to  die  rather 
than  sanction  any  infringement  of  their  law,  so 
that  in  the  end  Pilate  was  constrained  to  with- 
draw the  obnoxious  emblems.*  L,ater  still,  the 
insane  edict  of  Caligula,  demanding  that  he 
should  receive  divine  honor  and  that  a  golden 
statue  of  himself  should  be  placed  in  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  f  while  in  other  provinces  of  the  empire 
it  met  with  little  or  no  resistance,  excited  among 
the  Jewish  nation  the  most  violent  hostility.  The 
polished  Athenians  sighed  to  see  the  heads  of 
some  of  their  noblest  images  struck  off,  and  the 
trunks  carried  to  Rome  to  be  united  to  the  fea- 
tures of  a  barbarian  emperor.  But  it  was  a  sigh 
for  the  insult  offered  to  art,  taste,  and  feeling;  it 
was  not  a  sigh  for  the  profanation  of  their  reli- 
gious principles  which  they  resented.  J  The 
Jews,  on  the  other  hand,  were  ready  to  resist 
even  unto  blood  any  insult  offered  to  their  na- 
tional faith  and  the  Mosaic  law. 

7.  But  what  were  the  violations  of  the  reli- 
gious sentiment  of  the  nation  either  actually 
carried  out  or  attempted  by  a  Herod,  a  Pilate,  a 

*  "  Bell.  Jud."  II.  IX.  2-4. 

t  Philo  in  Flacc.  c.  7.  Leg.  ad  Caium  26 ;  Sucton.  Cal&  22. 

t  Merivale's  "  Romans  under  the  Empire."  VI.  <& 


The  observance  of  the  lord's  day.  295 

Caligula,  compared  with  the  conduct  of  those 
who  for  the  first  time  practically  transferred  the 
honor  due  to  the  ancient  Sabbath  to  "the  first 
day  of  the  week"?  What  was  the  ignorant  dis- 
regard of  time-honored  scruples  on  the  part  of 
heathen  rulers  compared  with  the  startling  prac- 
tices of  these  daring  innovators?  They,  at  any 
rate,  could  not  plead  ignorance  or  unconscious- 
ness of  the  popular  feeling.  Brought  up  from 
earliest  childhood  in  the  strictest  observance  of 
the  Mosaic  law,  they  retained  many  of  their  reli- 
gious customs.  Acts  1:14;  3:1.  They  were 
found  at  the  fixed  hours  of  prayers  joining  in  the 
temple  worship;  they  observed  the  great  annual 
festivals,  Acts  20:16;  they  conformed  even  in 
minor  points  to  many  legal  and  ceremonial  en- 
actments. Acts  21:26.  And  yet  in  one  most 
momentous  particular  they  did  not  scruple  to 
disregard  the  fondly  cherished  tradition  of  the 
nation.  To  the  Jew  the  Sabbath  was  the  weekly 
commemoration  of  the  rest  of  God  after  the  crea- 
tion. "Remember,"  said  the  great  Lawgiver, 
"the  Sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy.  For  in  six 
days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea, 
and  all  that  in  them  is,  and  rested  the  seventh 
day;  wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath  day 
and  hallowed  it."  Bxod.  20:8,  11.  "Israel  was 
the  people  to  whom  God  had  revealed  the  mystery 


296  THE    EVIDENTIAL   VALUE    OF 

of  creation,  that  master-truth  by  which  human 
thou  eh  t  is  saved  now  as  of  old  from  the  sin  and 
folly  of  confounding  God  with  his  works.  It 
brought  before  the  Jew  the  ineffable  majesty  of 
the  great  Creator,  between  whom  and  the  noblest 
work  of  His  hands  there  yawns  an  impassable 
abyss."*  And  yet,  though  no  one  could  have  felt 
the  force  of  this  more  completely  than  St.  Paul, 
he  does  not  scruple  to  run  counter  to  the  preju- 
dices and  feelings  of  his  nation  on  the  subject. 

8.  He  seeks  out  his  countrymen,  it  is  true,  in 
their  synagogues,  Acts  13:14,  42,  44;  16:13; 
17:2;  18:4,  on  the  Sabbath,  and  there  expounds 
to  them  the  Hebrew  Scriptures;  but  when  he 
celebrates  a  service  of  his  own  what  do  we  find? 
Take  the  case  when  he  reaches  Troas  and  abides 
there  seven  days.  What  does  he  do?  How  does 
St.  Luke's  narrative  run?  Does  he  say,  uOn 
the  last  day  of  his  stay  Paul  called  the  disciples 
together  to  break  bread,  and  preached  unto 
them"?  Is  this  what  we  find?  Instead,  we 
read,  u  On  the  first  day  of  the  week  Paul  preached 
unto  them."  Acts  20:7.  When  again  he  bids 
the  Galatians  and  Corinthians,  1  Cor.  16:2,  make 
a  religious  collection  for  the  poor  saints  at  Jerusa- 
lem, he  directs  that  it  shall  be  carried  out  on  the 
selfsame  day. 

*  Liddon's  "  Easter  Sermons."    II.  92. 


THE   OBSERVANCE   OF  THE   LORD'S   DAY.    297 

9.  How  comes  it  to  pass  that  the  first  day  of 
the  week  has  already  become  the  stated  day  of 
Christian  assembling*  for  breaking  the  bread, 
for  receiving  instruction,  for  collecting  alms? 
Why  do  we  never  find  the  apostle  inculcating 
the  carrying  out  of  these  duties  on  the  seventh 
day?  What  motive  had  he  for  making  or  even 
conniving  at  this  change  from  the  seventh  to  the 
first  day?  When  we  reflect  on  the  traditions 
amid  which  the  apostle  had  been  brought  up 
from  his  earliest  years,  on  the  force  of  the  reli- 
gious ideas  which  had  been  to  him  as  the  atmos- 
phere he  breathed,  the  fact  that  he  acquiesces  in 
the  change  and  gives  no  elaborate  explanation  of 
it  is  very  remarkable.  That  such  a  revolution  of 
sentiment  should  have  emanated  from  such  a  soil 
as  Judaism  is  very  startling.  It  calls  for  some 
adequate  explanation  consistent  with  its  occur- 
rence at  the  time  it  did,  and  at  a  historic  epoch 
of  which  we  can  assign  the  date. 

SECTION  III. 

1.  But  there  is  something  still  more  surpri- 
sing. St.  John  speaks  of  himself  at  the  outset  of 
the  Apocalypse,  and  says  in  the  passage  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made,  M  I  was  in  the 
isle  that  is  called  Patmos,  for  the  word  of  God 
*  See  Hessey's  "  Bampton  Lectures,"  p.  40. 


298  THE   EVIDENTIAL  VALUE   OF 

and  the  testimony  of  Jesus.     I  was  in  the  Spirit 
on  the  Lord's  day. ' '     Apoc.  1 :  9,  10. 

2.  What  did  he  mean  by  this  expression? 
There  is  no  real  reason  for  doubting  that  by  "the 
Lord's  day"  St.  John  meant  what  St.  Paul  terms 
"  the  first  day  of  the  week."*  But  what  is  espe- 
cially noteworthy  is  the  solemn  and  momentous 
name  which  St.  John  applies  to  it,  and  which 
the  Christian  Church  in  every  age  has  agreed 
to  bestow  upon  it.  He  calls  the  first  day  in  the 
week  % KvpiaKT/ 7ifiepa,f  "the  Lord's  day,"  and  thus 
connects  it  by  its  very  name  with  a  person. 

3.  What  did  he  mean  by  this  term?  It  is  a 
very  uncommon  one.  It  occurs  here,  and  here 
only.  The  adjective  Kvpianbg  denotes  "belonging 
to  a  lord  or  ruler. ' '  It  occurs  in  two  places  only 
throughout  the  entire  New  Testament.  It  is 
found  here,  and  St.  Paul  uses  it  in  the  eleventh 
chapter  of  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
where  he  calls  the  Bucharistic  feast  the  ' '  Supper 

*  Some  indeed,  as  Eichhorn,  understand  the  Lord's  day 
to  refer  to  Easter  Day,  but  this  is  quite  improbable.  Others 
maintain  that  it  means  the  day  of  judgment.  But  the  great 
"  day  of  the  Lord  "  in  this  sense  is  expressed  by  y  Tiyzpa  tov 
Kvplov,  2  Thess.  2:2,  R.  V. ;  or  7  vfiepaKvpiov,  2  Pet.  3:10;  or 
the  "day  of  Christ,"  ^/iepa  Xptarov,  Phil.  2:16;  never  by 
rj  Kvpia/cT}  7/pepa. 

f  Apoc.  1 :  10,  v  Kvptanrj  ^ipa—'m  Latin,  dies  dominica 
from  which  in  the  Romance  languages  the  first  day  of  the 
week  derived  its  name.  Ital.  Domenica ;  Span.  Domingo; 
Fr.  Dimanche. 


THE   OBSERVANCE  OF   THE    LORD'S   DAY.    299 

of  the  Lord,"  rb Kvpuutiif fcjnw,  Now  the  name 
Kvpioe,  Lord,  is  applied  to  Christ  frequently  in  the 
New  Testament. 

Thus  (a)  there  are  texts  in  which  He  is  called 
Lord  in  the  various  acceptations  of  Master  over 
servants,  Matt.  10:25;  24:45>  4^5  of  prophet  or 
teacher,  Matt.  8:25;  16:22;  Luke  9:54;  10:17, 
40;  John  11:12;  13:6,  9,  13;  21:15-17.  Again 
(b)  He  is  so  called  as  one  who  has  acquired  a 
peculiar  right  to  those  over  whom  He  exercises 
authority  in  virtue  of  the  price  which  he  has  paid 
for  men.     Eph.  6:9.;  Col.  3:24;  4:1;  Rom.  14:9. 

4.  But  there  is  a  still  higher  sense  in  which 
Christ  is  Lord.  Of  the  names  of  God,  Jehovah  is 
the  most  sacred  and  the  most  solemn.  A  Jew 
who  believes  in  Judaism  will  not  pronounce  it. 
Those  who  read  Hebrew  with  him  are  at  once 
warned  that  they  are  expected  to  substitute  for  it 
the  word  Adonai.  *  The  name  itself  was  long 
ago  withdrawn  from  the  popular  speech  of  the 
nation,  and  even  from  their  writings,  till  at 
length  it  lingered  only  in  the  mouth  of  the  high 
priest,  and  was  only  uttered  by  him  on  rare  and 
necessary  occasions,  such  as  the  Day  of  Atone- 
ment, f  while  as  he  uttered  it  those  who  stood 
near    cast    themselves   with   their    faces    on    the 

*  See  the  little  treatise  of  the   Bishop  of  Derry  on  the 
"Divinity  of  our  Lord,"  p.  27. 

t  Stanley's  "Jewish  Church,"  III.  162. 


300  THE   EVIDENTIAL  VALUE  OF 

ground,  and  the  multitude  responded,  "Blessed 
be  the  Name,  the  glory  of  his  kingdom  is  for  ever 
and  ever."*  This  name,  as  applied  to  God, 
denotes  that  He  is  "the  Eternal,"  "the  Self- 
existent,"  the  great  I  am.  Kxod.  3:13,  14.  By 
the  Septuagint  writers  it  was  translated  Ktpwf, 
Lord,  and  the  translation  was  adopted  by  the 
writers  of  the  new  Testament,  and  applied  to 
Christ  so  repeatedly  that  it  became  His  usual 
designation.  Thus  St.  Thomas,  addressing  Him, 
says,  My  Lord  and  my  God,"  John  20:28;  St. 
Peter  speaks  of  Him  as  " Lord  of  all,"  Acts 
10:36,  "whose  is  the  glory  and  the  dominion 
unto  the  ages  of  the  ages,"  1  Pet.  4:11;  and  St. 
Paul  affirms  that  whereas  He  was  originally  be- 
fore His  Incarnation  "in  the  absolute  form  of 
God,"f  "God  blessed  for  ever,"  Rom.  9:5,  as 
the  reward  of  his  humiliation  God  "gave  unto 
Him  the  Name  which  is  above  every  name,  that 
in  the  Name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of 
things  in  heaven  and  things  on  earth  and  things 
under  the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue  should 
confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of 
God  the  Father."  Phil.  2:9-11;  comp.  Acts  2:  36; 
Rom.  10:9. 

5.   Now  it  is  a  word  recalling  this  name,  sur- 

*  Edersheim's  "  Temple  Service,"  p.  271. 

f  Phil.  2:6,  lv  fxopoy  eeov  vnapxuv ;  see  Bishop  Lightfoot's 
note  on  the  force  here  of  juopcprj  and  vwip^wv. 


THE  OBSERVANCE  OF  THE    LORD'S  DAY.     3OI 

rounded  by  all  these  august  associations,  that  St. 
John  does  not  scruple  to  apply  to  the  first  day  of 
the  week  when  he  says  he  was  in  the  Spirit  on 
the  Lord's  day.  He  not  only  connects  the  day 
with  a  Person,  but  that  Person  is  one  with  whom 
divine  attributes  could  be  associated,  and  would 
be  so  associated  by  those  who  read  or  heard  the 
term  he  employs. 

6.  But  there  is  still  something  to  be  added. 
It  is  true  that  the  Jewish  nation  had  days  for 
commemorating  great  and  rare  passages  of  di- 
vine providence  in  their  past  history.  But  what 
single  day  had  the  Jews  ever  kept  in  honor  of 
any  particular  person,  however  holy  or  exalted? 
Where  is  to  be  found  any  trace  of  the  celebra- 
tion of  a  day  in  honor  of  Abraham,  the  father 
of  the  faithful;  or  of  Moses,  the  great  lawgiver; 
or  David,  the  founder  of  the  royal  line;  or  of 
Judas  Maccabseus,  the  restorer  of  the  national 
glories  ?  True  it  is  that  they  had  days  on  which 
they  commemorated  mighty  deliverances  and 
signal  marks  of  the  divine  favor.  But  on  which 
of  these  had  their  thoughts  ever  been  directed 
to  a  single  person  with  whom  they  could  associ- 
ate, as  indicating  his  day,  words  which,  whether 
we  take  their  lower  or  their  higher  sense,  had 
been  ever  associated  with  Deity?  What  power- 
ful and  constraining  motive  could  have  induced 


302  the  evidential  value  of 

men  trained  in  Judaism  to  detach  themselves 
from  every  association  of  the  past,  and  passing 
by  the  honor  due  to  the  time-honored  Sabbath, 
advance  higher  claims  to  observance  for  a  day 
hitherto  unheard  of  in  connection  with  sacred 
memories  ? 

7.  Had  St.  John  defended  the  expresssion 
with  a  long  and  labored  apology  it  would  not 
have  been  so  surprising.  The  necessity  of  the 
case  would  seem  to  have  called  for  it.  But  we 
have  not  a  word  of  explanation,  not  a  syllable 
of  defence.  He  does  not  assume  that  his  readers 
will  be  the  least  surprised  at  it  or  take  offence  at 
his  use  of  it.  Artlessly,  fearlessly  he  mentions 
it  in  the  most  incidental  manner.  The  expres- 
sion falls  from  his  pen  so  casually  and  uncon- 
sciously that  we  almost  forget  what  it  implies. 
The  boldness  of  the  claim  made  for  the  day,  that 
it  could  be  connected  with  a  Person,  and  that 
He  could  be  for  some  reason  entitled  to  the  "  in- 
effable Name"  which  his  countrymen  could  not 
even  pronounce,  passes  all  conception.  They  to 
whom  the  writer  was  chiefly  addressing  himself 
knew  and  felt  that  the  Jewish  covenant  was  the 
most  sacred  thing  in  the  universe,  and  the  Sab- 
bath one  of  its  most  characteristic  institutions, 
and  yet  without  a  single  word  of  explanation  he 
speaks  to  them  of  another  day  which  he  does  not 


THE  OBSERVANCE  OF  THE    LORD'S  DAY.    303 

scruple  to  consecrate  by  a  name  of  sacred  and 
mystical  meaning  and  to  associate  with  a  person. 
Are  we  not  justified  in  asking,  Did  something 
occur  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  to  the  person 
thus  commemorated  which  could  justify  its  being 
termed  His  day?  If  there  was  something,  the 
application  of  the  term  is  in  some  decree  ac- 
counted for.  If  there  was  not,  its  use  by  St. 
John  remains  an  insoluble  enigma. 

SECTION   IV. 

1.  Who,  then,  was  this  Person?  The  answer 
to  the  question  will  not  be  disputed.  All  the 
churches,  Western  and  Oriental,  agree  with  un- 
broken unanimity  that  the  day  called  by  St. 
John  the  Lord's  day,  was  the  day  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

2.  How  had  St.  John  been  connected  with 
Him  ?  Himself  the  son,  apparently  the  younger 
son,  of  Zebedee  and  Salome — Mark  15:40;  16:1, 
compared  with  Matt.  27:56 — natives  of  northern 
Galilee,  he  had  been  brought  up  in  the  simple 
Jewish  faith  of  the  simple-hearted  people  of  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Lake  of  Tiberias.  Devoted 
to  his  father's  pursuits  as  a  fisherman  on  the 
lake,  Mark  1:19,  he  yet  shared  the  passionate 
longings  and  enthusiastic  hopes  of  his  country- 


304  THE   EVIDENTIAL  VALUE   OF 

men  as  regarded  the  coming  of  the  Messiah. 
When  the  voice  from  the  wilderness  proclaimed 
His  advent,  John  at  once  responded  to  that  voice, 
and  moving  southward,  ranged  himself  among 
the  Baptist's  disciples. 

3.  But  he  did  more  than  this.  Though  sim- 
ple and  unlettered,  Acts  4:13,  and  unskilled  in 
the  traditions  and  speculations  of  the  schools,  he 
had  grasped  with  singular  power  the  spiritual 
import  of  the  Baptist's  message.  He  no  sooner 
heard  the  mysterious  words,  "Behold  the  Lamb 
of  God,"  than  he  obeyed  the  sign  and  followed 
his  new  Master.     John  1:37. 

4.  After  remaining  with  Him  for  a  time,  he 
seems  to  have  gone  back  to  his  old  employment. 
From  this  he  is  ao:ain  called  to  become  a  fisher 
of  men,  Matt.  4:19;  Luke  5:1-11,  and  to  form 
one  of  the  apostolic  body.  In  this  body  he  forms 
with  his  brother  James  and  St.  Peter  "the 
chosen  three,"  who  at  the  raising  of  Jairus' 
daughter,  Mark  5:37,  at  the  transfiguration, 
Mark  9:2,  and  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane, 
Matt.  26:37,  are  admitted  into  nearer  relation- 
ship with  the  Lord  than  the  rest.  But  in  this 
group,  though  St.  Peter  takes  the  lead,  it  is  St. 
John  who  is  nearest  and  dearest  to  the  Lord, 
"the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved."  On  more 
than    one    occasion,   as    has    been    already   indr- 


THE  OBSERVANCE  OE  THE  LORD'S  DAY.    305 

cated,*  he  displays  loyal  and  true  though,  un- 
disciplined zeal,  and  reveals  the  ardor  of  his 
Galilaean  temper  and  his  burning  love  for  his 
Master. 

5.  On  the  occasion  of  the  last  journey  to  Jeru- 
salem, Salome,  as  the  mouthpiece  of  her  two 
sons,  Matt.  20:20;  Mark  10:35,  begs  that  they 
may  sit,  the  one  on  the  Master's  right  hand  and 
the  other  on  His  left,  in  His  kingdom.  This  re- 
veals, in  spite  of  his  close  relationship  with 
Christ,  the  earthly  ambition  of  the  son  of  Zebe- 
dee  and  the  fact  that  he  had  failed  to  compre- 
hend the  nature  of  His  kingdom.  But  it  is  im- 
portant. For  it  makes  manifest  the  sort  of  king- 
dom to  which  he  is  looking  and  the  sense  in 
which  he  would  at  this  time  have  interpreted 
such  an  expression  as  "the  Lord's  day."  He 
would  have  regarded  "the  Lord's  day"  as 
meaning  the  day  on  which  the  Master  to  whom 
he  was  so  devotedly  attached  did  actually  assume 
the  sceptre  and  ascend  the  throne  to  which  in 
His  messianic  dignity  He  laid  claim. 

6.  But  did  his  Lord  assume  a  sceptre  or  as- 
cend a  throne  ?  Did  He,  as  an  earthly  sovereign, 
place  one  of  the  sons  of  Salome  on  His  right 
hand  and  the  other  on  His  left?  We  will  not 
seek  an  answer  from  any  Christian  writer.     Taci- 

*  See  above,  p.  10. 
20 


306  THE   EVIDENTIAL   VALUE   OF 

tus,  the  Roman  historian,  shall  reply  to  the 
question.  We  turn  to  the  15th  Book  of  his 
"Annals,"  and  the  44th  chapter.  He  is  descri- 
bing the  burning  of  Rome  in  the  reign  of  Nero 
and  the  circulation  of  a  rumor  that  it  was 
brought  about  by  an  imperial  order.  "To  get 
rid  of  the  report, '  I  he  writes,  ' '  Nero  fastened 
the  guilt  and  inflicted  the  most  exquisite  tortures 
on  a  class  hated  for  their  abominations,  called 
by  the  populace  Christians."  Then  he  adds: 
u  Christus,  from  whom  the  name  had  its  origin, 
suffered  the  extreme  penalty  during  the  reign  of 
Tiberius,  at  the  hands  of  one  of  our  procurators, 
Pontius  Pilatus." 

7.  Has  the  fact  thus  recorded  ever  been  dis- 
proved? Has  its  accuracy  ever  been  invalidated? 
Never.  The  reign  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius  has 
been  described  not  only  by  Tacitus,  but  by  Sue- 
tonius and  other  authors  of  good  repute,  and  the 
crucifixion  of  Him,  whom  St.  John  called  his 
Lord,  is  mentioned  by  them  as  a  matter  of  com- 
mon notoriety,  and  gives  point  to  many  a  cruel 
and  opprobrious  epithet  directed  against  His  fol- 
lowers. * 

8.  The  mention  of  the  reign  of  the  Emperor 
Tiberius  fixes  the  chronological  limits  of  the  date 

*  Comp.  Lucian,  de  Morte  Pcregrini,  c.  11.;    Origen,  c. 
Cclsum,  VII.  40;  Arnob.  adv.  Gentcs,  I.  36. 


THE   OBSERVANCE    OF   THE    LORD'S   DAY.  307 

of  this  crucifixion,  and  of  the  infliction  of  the  ex- 
treme penalty  which  Tacitus  records.  It  cannot 
be  pushed  much  farther  back  than  the  year  A.  D. 
30,  and  this  is  the  year  generally  accepted  as  its 
date.  It  is  important  to  notice  this.  It  places  us 
in  distinctly  historic  times.  It  is  not  a  period 
hidden  in  the  mists  of  fabulous  ages.  It  is  a 
period  of  which  we  know  a  great  deal.  It  had  its 
archives,  its  registers,  its  monuments.  We  can 
examine  them  and  cross-examine  them,  and  the 
statements  of  Tacitus  relate  to  the  actions  of  one 
of  the  most  practical  people  the  world  has  seen, 
at  the  most  practical  period  of  their  history,  when 
their  roads,  their  bridges,  their  baths,  their  aque- 
ducts were  scatterinor  the  memorials  of  those  who 
erected  them  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

9.  Does  St.  John  anywhere  deny  what  Tacitus 
records?  Nowhere.  What  the  Roman  historian 
mentions  in  a  single  paragraph  he  proclaims 
wherever  he  goes.  In  his  own  narrative  of  his 
Master's  life  it  is  described  with  the  minute  par- 
ticularity of  a  diary.*  Three  other  Evangelists 
also  give  equally  full  descriptions.  However  con- 
densed their  accounts  may  be  in  recording  other 
portions  of  our  Lord's  life,  here  they  agree  to 
relate  fully  every  detail.  Without  attempting  to 
conceal  a  single  particle  of  its  shame,  the  writers 

*  See  Canon  Liddon's  "  Bampton  Lectures,"  VIII.  475. 


308  THE   EVIDENTIAL   VALUE  OF 

record  carefully  the  fact  of  their  Master's  death. 
One  of  His  disciples,  they  tell  us,  had-  betrayed 
Him  to  his  foes.  One  of  them,  and  he  one  of  the 
chosen  three,  had  basely  denied  that  he  ever 
knew  Him.  Where  was  St.  John?  He  was  by 
His  cross.  Where  were  the  rest  ?  They  had  for- 
saken Him  and  fled.*  This  is  his  own  account  of 
the  matter  in  his  own  Gospel.  He  neither  hides 
nor  disguises,  he  neither  palliates  it  nor  excuses  it. 
With  singular  openness,  with  unexampled  par- 
ticularity, he  tells  us  the  story  of  the  cowardice 
and  faithlessness  of  his  companions.  What  in- 
terest he  had,  or  others  who  haye  told  the  story 
with  him,  in  describing  the  actors  as  worse  than 
they  really  were,  it  is  difficult  to  see  and  it  is  im- 
possible to  understand. 

10.  But  there  is  still  another  document  to  be 
put  in,  which  has  been  already  alluded  to,  and 
which,  like  the  testimony  of  Tacitus,  comes  to  us 
not  from  a  Christian  but  from  a  heathen  writer. 
About  the  year  A.  D.  112,  the  younger  Pliny,  f 
then  acting  as  governor  of  the  province  of  Pontus 
and  Bithynia,  informs  the  Emperor  Trajan  of  the 
appearance  within  his  province  of  a  new  and 
strange  superstition,  which  "had  already  affected 
many  of  all  ranks,  and  even  of  both  sexes,  had 

*  Observe  the  singular    force    of  St.   Matthew's  words, 
26  :  56. 

f  Pliny's  Epist.  ad  Traj.  96. 


THE   OBSERVANCE   OE   THE    LORD'S  DAY.    309 

caused  many  of  the  temples  to  be  almost  deserted, 
the  sacrifices  to  cease,  and  the  sacrificial  victims 
to  find  few  purchasers. ' ' 

Respecting  the  members  of  this  strange  sect, 
he  had,  after  inquiry,  discovered  "that  they  were 
accustomed  to  meet  together  on  a  stated  day 
(stato  die)  before  it  was  light,  and  to  sing  hymns 
to  Christ  as  to  a  God,  and  to  bind  themselves  by  a 
sacramenium,  not  for  any  wicked  purpose,  but 
never  to  commit  fraud,  theft,  adultery;  never  to 
break  their  word,  or  to  refuse,  when  called  upon, 
to  deliver  up  their  trust.*' 

11.  What  is  worthy  of  note  here  is  that  the 
celebration  of  a  particular  day  by  the  Christians, 
for  of  these  Pliny  is  speaking,  had  become  so 
marked  as  to  impress  the  heathen  with  its  dis- 
tinctive character  as  a  "status  dies,"  and  that 
this  day  was  the  first  day  of  the  week,  the  Lord's 
day,  is  indisputable.  The  votaries  of  this  strange 
superstition  sang  hymns  to  Christ  "  as  to  a  God." 
The  day  therefore  was  regarded  as  a  day  of  festal 
joy  and  thanksgiving. 

12.  But  what  reason  could  they  have  given  for 
singing  on  this  day  hymns  in  token  of  joy  and 
thanksgiving?  Had  not  the  Christ  in  whose 
name  they  met  together  been  crucified?  How 
comes  it  to  pass  that  they  can  salute  Him  as  a 
God?     Suppose  any  one  of  those  early  Christians 


310  THE   EVIDENTIAL  VALUE   OF 

had  unfolded  a  scroll  containing  the  memoirs 
which  were  then  in  circulation  of  Him  who  died, 
what  would  he  have  found  to  have  been  the  con- 
dition of  His  disciples  at  His  death?  According 
to  their  own  confession,  he  would  have  read  that 
they  were  stupefied  with  despair  and  over- 
whelmed with  disappointment.  Why  then  did 
they  not  try  to  efface  all  recollection  of  the  terri- 
ble fact?  Why  did  they  not  acknowledge  that 
they  had  been  the  victims  of  delusion  in  accept- 
ing Him  as  their  Lord,  and  own  their  untoward 
mistake?  Would  not  this  have  been  natural? 
Is  it  not  what  we  should  have  expected  under  the 
circumstances?  How  comes  it  to  pass,  then,  that 
instead  of  this,  the  selfsame  men  who  confess 
their  stupefaction  at  His  death  are  found,  Acts 
1:14,  after  a  brief  interval,  in  the  very  city 
where  there  would  be  the  greatest  disinclination 
to  believe  and  the  greatest  solicitude  to  confute 
their  statements,  where  the  counterproofs  were  all 
in  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  proclaiming  their 
belief  in  Him  who  had  died  the  death  of  the 
malefactor  and  the  slave,  and  electing  a  fresh 
member  of  their  body  in  place  of  one  who  had 
betrayed  Him?     Acts  1:  21-26. 

13.  How  comes  it  to  pass  that  we  find  that 
after  the  hopeless  ignominy  of  the  scene  on  Cal- 
vary, one  like  St.  Paul  could  have  been  induced 


THE  OBSERVANCE    OF    THE    LORDS    DAY.    311 

to  transfer  to  the  first  day  of  the  week  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  Sabbath  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  on  it 
to  celebrate  the  Eucharistic  feast  which,  except  011 
one  supposition,  commemorated  the  complete  dis- 
appointment of  the  hopes  of  the  Christian  body  ? 
What  could  have  induced  St.  John  to  call  this 
first  day  of  the  week  the  Lord's  day,  which  could 
only,  except  on  one  supposition,  serve  to  remind 
him  and  the  members  of  the  Asiatic  Churches 
of  a  terrible  and  tragical  reversal  of  all  his  ex- 
pectations as  to  the  setting  up  of  his  Master's 
kingdom  ? 

14.  I  say,  except  on  one  supposition.  What  is 
this?  Except  on  the  supposition  that  after  the 
scene  on  Calvary  some  event  took  place  as  certain  and 
as  historically  true  as  the  death  tlicre  enacted,  glori- 
ous enough  to  transfigure  the  desolation  of  that  scene 
and  powerful  enough  to  turn  all  its  sorrow  and  shame 
into  joy  and  triumph.  If  such  an  event  took  place, 
then  we  can  understand  how  St.  John  came  to 
speak  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the  Lord's 
day  without  adding  a  word  of  comment  or  ex- 
planation, as  though  he  was  alluding  to  a  custom 
already  well  understood  and  already  accepted  by 
the  Christian  Church.  If  such  an  event  took 
place,  then  we  can  comprehend  why  those  vota- 
ries of  a  strange  superstition  in  Pliny's  province 
"sang  hymns  to  Christ  as  a  God,"  and  met  on  a 


312  THE    EVIDENTIAL   VALUE    OF 

fixed  day  to  celebrate  His  memory.  The  words 
of  Tacitus,  it  is  plain,  though  undisputed  for  their 
historical  accuracy,  cannot  contain  the  whole  ac- 
count of  the  matter.  They  do  not  give  us  a 
shadow  of  a  shade  of  reason  for  the  mysterious 
observance  of  this  particular  day  ever  since  apos- 
tolic times.  The  motive  for  the  observance  of  the 
old  Sabbath  of  the  L,aw  on  the  seventh  day  was 
clear  and  intelligible.  It  rested  on  a  divine  ordi- 
nance. To  alter  it  was  unpardonable,  unless 
there  was  an  overwhelming  reason  for  making 
the  change.  But  what  was  this  reason?  Did 
any  event  occur  which  made  the  change  imper- 
ative? 

SECTION  V. 

I.  Was  there,  I  repeat,  such  an  event? 

The  Christian  Church  in  every  age  has  assured 
her  children  that  there  was.  The  author  of  the 
Kpistle  which  contains  the  earliest  allusion  to  the 
observance  of  uthe  first  day  of  the  week"  in- 
forms us  that  after  the  crucifixion  He  ' (  who  suf- 
fered under  Pontius  Pilate"  was  buried,  i  Cor. 
15:4.  Herein  he  agrees  with  the  narrative  cf 
the  four  Evangelists,  who,  one  and  all,  tell  us 
that  the  holy  body  of  their  Master  was  taken 
down  from  the  cross  and  laid  in  a  tomb  hewn 


THE   OBSERVANCE   OF   THE    LORD'S    DAY.    313 

out  of  the  rock  in  a  garden  hard  by  Calvary,  in 
the  possession  of  Joseph  of  Arimathsea. 

2.  They  are  careful  to  inform  us — with  what 
object  it  is  difficult  to  see,  unless  it  is  true — that 
even  this  act  of  kindness  and  consideration  was 
due  not  to  any  of  the  original  apostolic  body,  but 
to  secret  disciples  and  comparative  strangers, 
Matt.  27:57-61;  Mark  15:42-47;  Luke  23:50-56; 
John  19:38-42 — Joseph  of  Arimathaea  and  Nico- 
demus.  The  former,  who  had  begged  the  body 
of  Pilate,  John  19:38,  and  the  latter,  who  had 
brought  a  "mixture  of  myrrh  and  aloes,"  John 
19:39,  to  embalm  it,  made  the  necessary  prepara- 
tions, and  conveyed  the  holy  body  to  the  tomb, 
placed  it  in  a  niche  of  the  rock,  rolled  a  great 
stone  against  the  entrance,  and  went  their  way. 

3.  In  that  tomb  the  body  lay  during  the 
Friday  night  that  followed  the  crucifixion,  and 
the  succeeding  Saturday  and  Saturday  night, 
protected  by  a  guard  of  Roman  soldiers,  whose 
presence  had  been  requested  by  the  Jewish  rulers, 
from  the  intrusion  alike  of  friends  and  enemies. 
Matt.  27:62-66. 

4.  But  early  in  the  morning  of  the  first  day 
of  the  week  *  the  stone  was  found  to  have  been 

*  Matt.  28 : 1 ;  Mark  16  :  2  ;  Luke  24: 1 ;  John  20  : 1.  Each 
of  the  four  Evangelists  lays  special  stress  on  the  fact  that  it 
was  the  first  day  of  the  week. 


314  THE   EVIDENTIAL  VALUE   CF 

rolled  away,  and  the  sepulchre  was  discovered  to 
be  empty.  If,  however,  the  sepulchre  was  empty, 
where  was  He  who  had  been  laid  therein  ?  He 
was  no  longer  there.  He  had  risen,  even  as  He  had 
said.  This  is  the  unanimous  testimony  of  the 
four  Evangelists  and  of  St.  Paul  in  his  indisputa- 
bly authentic  letter  to  the  Corinthians.  This  is 
the  fact  which,  in  spite  of  contempt  and  obloquy, 
the  loss  of  caste,  and  the  sacrifice  of  all  that 
makes  life  tolerable,  in  spite  of  the  bitterest  ha- 
tred and  the  keenest  persecution,  the  first  disci- 
ples made  it  their  business  to  proclaim  as  no  less 
historical  than  their  Master's  Passion.  This  is 
the  event  which,  as  they  affirmed,  transfigured 
the  shame  of  the  cross  and  turned  its  desolation 
into  triumph. 

5.  But  not  only  did  He  rise  again  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  but  on  the  selfsame  day  He  re- 
vealed himself  on  five  distinct  occasions  to  "cho- 
sen witnesses."  Acts  10:41.  On  this  day  He 
was  seen  by  Mary  of  Magdala,  Mark  16:9,  IO> 
John  20:11-18,  by  the  other  ministering  wo- 
men, Matt.  28:8-10,  by  the  two  disciples  journey- 
ing to  Bmmaus.  Mark  16:12;  Luke  24:13-35. 
On  this  day  He  appeared  to  St.  Peter,  1  Cor. 
15:5;  Luke  24:34,  separately,  and  to  the  ten 
apostles  gathered  together  in  the  upper  room 
at  Jerusalem.      Luke  24:  36-43;  John   20:19-23. 


THE   OBSERVANCE   OF   THE    LORD'S   DAY.    315 

lie  was  seen  indeed  afterwards.  But  on  no  day 
is  He  recorded  to  have  ''manifested  himself"  so 
often.  Never  was  He  busier  than  on  the  world's 
first  Easter  Day.  No  day  would  be  associated  in 
the  memories  of  the  first  disciples  with  more  fre- 
quent proofs  of  His  triumph  over  death.  No  day 
by  the  record  of  more  multiplied  incidents  estab- 
lished its  claim  to  be  called  u  the  Lord's  day." 

6.  On  the  third  day  He  rose  again  from  tlie  dead  ! 
M.  Renan,  in  his  "  Life  of  Jesus,"  lays  down 
this  axiom,  "Great  events  have  always  great 
causes."*  We  have  been  seeking  an  adequate 
cause  for  one  of  the  most  striking  phenomena  of 
religious  life  among  the  most  cultivated  nations 
of  the  earth — the  observance  of  the  first  day  of 
the  week  as  the  Lord's  day  ;  and  in  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ  we  find  it.  In  each  of  the  Epis- 
tles to  the  Corinthians,  Galatians,  and  Romans — 
a  group  recognized  as  genuine  among  the  mcst 
skeptical  writers  and  critics — the  literal  fact  of 
the  resurrection  is  regarded  as  the  groundwork 
of  the  teaching  of  the  apostle  Paul.  He  does  not 
treat  the  fact  ideally,  but  historically.  He  does 
not  regard  it  as  the  embodiment  of  a  great  hope, 
or  as  the  consequence  of  some  preconceived  no- 
tion of  the  person  of  Christ.     On  the  contrary,  he 

*  See  Godet's  "Lectures  in    Defence  of  the  Christian 
Faith,"  p.  128. 


316  THE    EVIDENTIAL   VALUE   OF 

rests  his  hope  on  the  fact,  and  deduces  his  view 
of  Christ's  nature  from  the  literal  event  of  His 
rising  again.  * 

7.  Twice  when  our  Lord  was  asked  by  the 
Jewish  authorities  for  a  miraculous  sign  in  attes- 
tation of  His  divine  claims,  he  referred  those  who 
pressed  him  for  such  a  sign  to  his  resurrection 
from  the  dead.  His  other  miracles  were  "signs." 
This  was  to  be  "the  sign."  If  He  gave  it,  and 
rose  triumphant  from  the  tomb,  we  have  the  clew 
to  what  has  taken  place.  If  He  did  not,  to  what 
are  we  to  look  for  the  origin  of  the  observance  of 
the  first  day  of  the  week  as  His  day  ?  When  we 
remember  the  soil  in  which  the  observance  of  the 
day  first  took  root,  we  have  a  measure  of  the 
depth  of  conviction  which  must  have  been 
needed  to  break  with  old  and  time-honored  asso- 
ciations and  bring  about  its  institution  at  all. 

8.  If,  after  undergoing  all  He  did  on  the 
cross  of  Calvary,  He  in  whose  honor  the  members 
of  the  new  sect  in  Pliny's  province  of  Bithy- 
nia  "sang  hymns  as  to  a  God,"  passed  away 
like  other  men,  and  still  "lies  in  the  lorn  Syrian 
town,"  how  is  it  conceivable  that  a  man  like  St. 
John  could  have  kept  the  Lord's  day  as  one  of 
religious  obligation  ?  What  would  have  justified 
him  in  countenancing  the  change  of  day  from 
*  See  Westcott's  "  Gospel  of  the  Resurrection,"  p.  109. 


THE  OBSERVANCE  OF  THE   LORD'S  DAY.    317 

one  already  consecrated  by  the  divine  law  ?  What 
could  have  induced  him  to  sanction  an  institution 
which  must  have  involved  a  shock  to  the  preju- 
dices of  every  pious  member  of  his  nation  ? 

9.  What  possible  reason  could  he  have  urged 
as  imperative  for  inaugurating  or  countenancing 
so  unique  an  observance?  Was  it  because  the 
death  on  Calvary  was  a  martyrdom?  But  what 
aspect  of  a  martyrdom  did  it  present  to  the  eyes 
even  of  the  most  attached  disciple  of  Him  who 
died  ?  It  sealed  no  national  cause.  It  crowned 
no  patriotic  rising.  It  recalled  no  daring  enter- 
prise vainly  though  courageously  undertaken 
against  the  Roman  power.  *  The  bandits,  indeed, 
who  died  by  the  side  of  Christ  were  not  improb- 
ably regarded  by  the  bystanders  as  martyrs.  We 
read  of  no  mockery  of  them.  We  hear  of  no  bit- 
ter gibes  cast  in  their  teeth.  Blasphemy  and 
scorn  were  reserved  for  Him  who  occupied  the 
central  cross,  f  His  death  was  the  last  drop  in 
the  cup  of  a  complete  and  crushing  disappoint- 
ment of  all  the  hopes  and  aspirations  of  His  fol- 
lowers. Were  they  likely  to  enshrine  in  such  an 
institution  as  "the  Lord's  day"  what  could  only 

*  See  the  "  Evidential  Value  of  the  Holy  Eucharist,"  the 
Boyle  Lectures  for  1879. 

f  See  Archbishop  Trench's  "  Studies  in  the  Gospels,"  pp. 
293,  294. 


318  THE   EVIDENTIAL  VALUE   01? 

have  been  the  tale  of  their  defeat  and  the  mem- 
ory of  their  error  ? 

10.  Was  the  honor  due  to  the  seventh  trans- 
ferred to  the  first  day  of  the  week  because  He 
who  died  thereby  inaugurated  a  new  covenant 
between  God  and  man?  The  seventh  day,  in- 
deed, as  kept  by  the  Jews  did  commemorate  a 
covenant  ratified  by  God  through  the  hands  of  a 
Mediator.  But  what  proof  of  the  acceptance  of 
His  death  as  a  sacrifice  was  vouchsafed  if,  in 
spite  of  all  that  He  had  said,  death  proved  in  the 
case  of  Christ,  as  in  that  of  all  others,  the  "great 
conqueror"?  Could  the  death  on  Calvary,  if  it 
stood  alone  and  nothing  followed,  be  claimed  as 
inaugurating  a  new  and  better  covenant?  "A 
whole  world  of  the  most  divine  ideas,"  it  has 
been  said,  "lies  in  our  seeing  aright  the  distinc- 
tion between  the  Sabbath  and  the  Lord's  day!"* 
And  yet  that  distinction  came  in  a  moment  to 
the  twelve!  Within  nine  days  after  the  voice 
had  been  heard  saying,  "It  is  finished;  Father, 
into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit,"  we  trace 
the  earliest  beginninsfs  of  the  observance  of  the 
first  day  of  the  week.f  But  on  what  possible 
ground  did  the  apostolic  body  meet  again  on  that 

*  Prof.  Milligan's  "  Lectures,"  p.  68. 

t  Comp.  John  20 :  26,  "  And  after  eight  days  again  the  dis- 
ciples were  within." 


THE   OBSERVANCE  OE  THE   LORD'S  DAY.    319 

day,  if,  after  disappointing  every  hope  they  had 
ever  cherished,  their  Master  died  and  was  no 
more  seen  ?  What  valid  answer  to  the  question 
is  there,  if  nothing  distinguished  the  first  day  of 
the  week  from  all  others  ? 

11.  The  early  observance  of  the  Lord's  day, 
whether  we  reflect  on  the  period  when  it  began, 
or  the  previous  training  of  those  who  first  ac- 
cepted it,  or  the  renunciation  of  old  beliefs  which 
it  implied,  or  the  total  and  overmastering  change 
of  thought  and  feeling  in  reference  to  a  time-hon- 
ored institution  like  the  Sabbath  which  it  in- 
volved, remains,  and  ever  must  remain,  an  abso- 
lutely unintelligible  phenomenon  without  the  fact 
of  the  resurrection.  It  can  be  accounted  for 
neither  by  an  imaginary  death  nor  by  a  visionary 
resurrection.  A  visionary  resurrection  runs  up 
in  the  last  analysis  into  a  fraudulent  resurrection, 
connived  at  by  the  most  passionate  teachers  of 
the  duty  of  veracity.  The  observance  of  this  day 
is  too  solid  a  fact  to  repose  on  a  foundation  of 
mist.  A  "splendid  guess,"  a  "vague  but  loving 
hope,"  the  dream  of  an  enthusiast,  the  vision  of 
credulous  disciples — these  will  not  account  for  an 
objective  fact  as  indubitable  as  the  institution  and 
continued  observance  through  so  many  centuries 
of  a  day  so  peculiarly  designated  as  the  Lord's 
day.     They  will  not  bear  the  superstructure, 


320  THE   EVIDENTIAL  VALUE   OF 

12.  The  resurrection,  on  the  other  hand,  by 
the  fact  of  the  absence  of  any  human  agent  as  its 
author,  takes  its  place  on  a  level  with  the  most 
prodigious  of  miracles — that  of  creation.  To 
summon  into  life  and  to  recall  to  life  are  two 
acts  of  the  same  nature.  ' '  Creation  is  the  vic- 
tory of  Omnipotence  over  nothingness;  the  res- 
urrection is  the  victory  of  the  same  power  over 
death,  which  is  the  thing  most  like  to  nothing- 
ness that  is  known  to  us."*  Science  has  done 
wonders,  and  in  the  world  of  science  much  has 
been  accomplished  to  justify  the  words  of  Soph- 
ocles, 

"  Many  the  things  that  mighty  be, 
And  none  is  mightier  than  man."f 

But  no  man  of  science  cherishes  even  the  distant 
hope  that  he  can  undo  the  work  of  death  or  keep 
death  indefinitely  at  bay.  The  resurrection  is  a 
creative  act  of  the  first  order.  It  cannot  stand 
as  an  isolated  fact.  He  who  said,  "I  have  power 
to  lay  down  my  life,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it 
again,"  John  10:18,  spake  as  never  man  did  or 
could  speak.  By  his  taking  again  his  life  he 
proved  that  he  was  more  than  man,  that  he 
was — God.     He  linked  together  the  first  creation, 

*  Godet's  "  Lectures,"  p.  43. 
f  Sophocles'  "  Antig."    332 : 

TloXhi  rd  detvu,  novdcv  avOpunov 

detvorepov  ne2.ec. 


THE  OBSERVANCE  OF  THE    LORD'S   DAY.    32 1 

which  is  the  primordial  fact  in  the  history  of  the 
universe,  with  a  new  creation,  of  which  He  too 
is  the  author  and  the  source.  The  old  Sabbath, 
with  its  commemoration  of  rest  after  the  works 
of  the  first  creation,  was  swallowed  up  in  the 
new  creation  wrought  by  the  Lord  of  life  on  the 
first  Lord's  day.  The  light  streams  in  on  the 
unique  expression  of  the  beloved  disciple,  and  we 
see  what  he  intended,  we  feel  we  "stand  no 
longer  at  the  foot  of  Sinai,  but  by  the  empty 
tomb  in  the  garden  outside  Jerusalem." 

13.  Let  us  sum  up.  The  resurrection  alone 
as  an  actual  fact  explains  how  it  came  to  pass 
that  the  Lord's  day 

(1)  grew  up  naturally  from  the  apostolic  times; 

(2)  gradually  assumed  the  character  of  the  one. 
distinctively  Christian  festival; 

(3)  drew  to  itself,  as  by  an  irresistible  gravita- 
tion, the  periodical  rest  which  is  enjoined  in  the 
Fourth  Commandment  under  the  Mosaic  law; 

(4)  could  as  an  observance  be  alluded  to  by  St. 
Paul  and  St.  John  without  a  word  of  comment  or 
explanation ; 

(5)  and,  though  not  enacted  by  any  law  in  the 
apostolic  church,  could  grow  up  and  make  its 
way  by  the  intrinsic  weight  of  its  own  reason- 
ableness. 

14.  With  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  the  early 

21 


322  THE   EVIDENTIAL  VALUE   OF 

observance  of  the  Lord's  day  runs  smoothly  into 
the  context  of  the  world's  history,  and  we  can 
explain 

(i)  How  the  startling  change  of  religious  sen- 
timent was  brought  about. 

(2)  How  in  spite  of  the  shame  of  the  cross  the 
Christian  society  could  gather  up  and  concen- 
trate itself  in  adoration  round  the  person  of  Him 
who  died  upon  the  cross. 

(3)  How  St.  Paul  could  speak  of  Him  who  so 
died  as  "the  firstfruits  of  them  that  have  fallen 
asleep,"  for  "as  in  Adam  all  die,  so  in  Christ 
shall  all  be  made  alive."      1  Cor.  15:20,  22. 

(4)  How  He,  whom  the  apostle  John  saw  in 
vision  on  the  Lord's  day,  could  say  of  himself, 
"  I  am  the  First  and  the  Last  and  the  living  One; 
and  I  was  dead,  and  behold  I  am  alive  for  ever- 
more."    Apoc.  1:18. 

(5)  How  since  this  event  took  place  ten  thou- 
sand times  ten  thousand  Christian  congregations 
have  gathered  themselves  together  on  the  Lord's 
day  in  all  quarters  of  the  world,  and  have  joined, 
if  not  in  the  words,  yet  in  the  spirit  of  the 
hymn: 

"  On  this  day,  the  first  of  days, 
God  the  Father's  name  we  praise, 
Who,  creation's  Lord  and  spring, 
Did  the  world  from  darkness  bring. 


THE  OBSERVANCE  OF  THE  LORD'S  DAY.     32$ 

"  On  this  day  the  eternal  Son 
Over  death  his  triumph  won  ; 
On  this  day  the  Spirit  came 
With  His  gifts  of  living  flame." 

15.  Can  any  one  explain  how  otherwise  these 
facts  are  to  be  accounted  for?  "  The  miracle  of 
miracles,"  says  Prof.  Freeman,*  "greater  than 
dried-up  seas  and  cloven  rocks,  was  when  the 
Augustus  on  his  throne,  Pontiff  of  the  gods  of 
Rome,  himself  a  god  to  the  subjects  of  Rome, 
bent  himself  to  become  the  worshipper  of  a 
crucified  provincial  of  his  empire." 

But  why  did  he  so  u  bend  himself,"  if  that 
crucifixion  was  followed  by  no  event  which  trans- 
figured its  shame?  Why  did  he  sanction  the 
observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  a  day 
of  joy  and  triumph  ?  Why  have  the  most  civil- 
ized nations  of  the  world  acquiesced  in  its  ob- 
servance? The  question  demands  an  answer. 
But  without  the  resurrection  what  answer  can 
be  given  that  is  not  imaginary  merely  and  in- 
vented ? 


*  "  Chief  Periods  ofEu^ggean  History,"  p.  67 


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